Sookie the Shieldmaiden
by Thyra10
Summary: Sookie the Shieldmaiden has chosen to live by the sword. On a raid she meets another Viking warrior - a warrior who will turn her life upside down. All Human. Viking age. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden**

**A/N:**

My fingers have been itching - they`ve wanted so badly to write another story set in the Viking age. When I stumbled over a description of the female Viking warriors – the shieldmaidens – I knew what my next story was going to be about. Sookie the Shieldmaiden.

I have a few notes to story:

* This story is not set in any specific historical time. It`s before Christianity since women`s role changed dramatically when the old faith was abandoned, but I`m not being more specific than that.

* This story is also not set in any specific geographical place. I am describing places by their topography so obviously I have an idea of where the story takes place, but I`m making up the names or even the existence of cities, mountains, rivers etc that I mention.

* The people in this story have never lived and their names are, for the most of them, not Viking names. The people in this story are keeping their SVM-names and to my knowledge, Sookie is not a Viking name :-). There will also be kings and queens in this story that have never existed.

* I am trying to keep the spirit of the Viking age as far as I know it. This means the characters will say and do things that would come natural to a Viking – from the little knowledge one has of Viking daily life. These things may sound strange today, but I hope you will accept it. On the other hand, I will keep the language close to the language we speak today. Since Vikings were not a people who wrote much down – apart from the odd rune stone - one doesn`t know much of how they spoke to one another. I realize a lot of writers of Viking tales choose some kind of mixture of regency English and caveman speech to show how Vikings spoke. I am not going to do that.

* I am taking liberties. Plenty of liberties. I will introduce practices that I could imagine Vikings would have or that are close to what I`ve read of them, but my version will still be my version. If it`s any consolation – I`ll know when I`m taking liberties and I won`t do it at random. If you wonder about something, please ask me and I`ll clarify.

Sorry if this was boring – I had to get these things off my chest or I would feel like I was cheating you all.

I want to thank **Suki59** for betaing this story and for reminding me that I need to describe things better when it comes to the Viking age.

**Charlaine Harris **owns all characters in this tale. I just borrowed them, shipped them back in time and gave Sookie a nice sword to play with.

* * *

><p><strong>Sookie the Shieldmaiden<strong>

I pulled my sword out of the body of the man I`d just killed. He hadn`t realized I was a woman, a shieldmaiden, but he`d seen my size and had underestimated me like all these so-called brave men did. And as with most of the other men I`d fought, that mistake had cost him his life.

I looked up and took a deep breath – a mistake since the air was full of smoke and death. I was at the outskirts of the village we`d attacked this morning, not really sure how I`d gotten there. I`d started out fighting next to Jason, my brother, and now I was here, alone. In a battle you notice your enemy and whatever else that can kill you. You don`t pay much attention to your surroundings.

Now I took them in. Two houses close to me were burning and I noticed I had a forest behind me. I figured some of the villagers were hiding there which was fine by me. If they stayed where they were they would survive. If they attacked they would die.

I was a good fighter. A warrior to be feared. And I had a secret weapon to make up for my small size – I could predict every move my opponent made, before he made it. I`d never been sure how I could know in advance what other people would do, but I did. It could be that I was extra sensitive to the little movements in their bodies. Or maybe I`d been favored by the gods. I always liked to think the latter.

It had always been there, my little secret. Even when I was a kid and fought Jason with wooden swords. When he was five and I was seven, he`d thought I won because I was bigger than he was. When he was 15 and I was 17, and he`d towered over me, he`d accepted it as one of the truly strange things in this world.

Jason had never been one to think too much over things.

He was wise not to overthink things, of course. Like why we were here and who we were fighting. It was fine when we were just out to rob some rich city or gilded monastery of their values – gold and silver were always a good reason for a nice pillaging – but this time we were fighting because we were on one side of a war and the people we were killing were on the other side.

No one knew why we had picked the side we`d picked and no one cared. If one brother of a dead king felt he would be a better ruler than the daughter of that same king – who were we to tell him he was wrong?

If we were lucky we might leave with a few furs, some sheep and a few barrels of wheat. It might keep hunger from our doors in the winter but gold and silver would have made us rich enough to stay at home with our own sheep, growing our own wheat.

Just as I was about to wipe the blood from my sword, I heard a sound behind me. I turned around and crouched into fighting stance in one move.

A huge blond man stood there grinning. He was wearing the same kind of helmet as I was, the type that also covered his nose and protected his eyes, but I could see that he was handsome. His blue eyes shone through the holes in the iron of the helmet and his body must have made women scream with joy when they saw it.

I would bet my shield that he`d made a number of women scream when they saw him naked too. When they`d touched him. And he`d touched them.

But to me he was someone I might have to fight. He could be my next kill. I sighed at the thought. Not because I had any problems killing my enemies, even the pretty ones. It was just that I wanted to get back to Jason and this guy was in my way.

"Did you kill that guy?" he asked in a Norse that gave away that he`d grown up in the flatlands to the south – not in the mountains like I had. I`d climbed hills and dived in the cold fjords. I`d survived cold winters and rainy summers whereas this guy had lived where the soil was fertile and people rarely starved. I wasn`t sure if he was friend or foe so I treated him like a potential threat, just to be on the safe side. One never knew with allegiances changing all the time.

Better to have killed one too many than one too few, I figured. At least the handsome man would make some Valkyries in Valhalla happy. They would thank me for letting him die fighting instead of as an old man. Old men who died in their beds had no entry to Valhalla.

I nodded. No point in letting my voice give away my gender. Shieldmaidens were rare and I didn`t want the questions most warriors asked. Well, innuendos was a better word for them. They rarely got the maiden part of shieldmaiden. I could not count the number of times I`d had to knock it into their thick sculls that shieldmaidens were not supposed to have sex on raids. Well, not at all, really, but that was impossible for anyone to live up to.

I did take the "no sex on raids" seriously and had left a few guys bruised before they took it seriously too.

"You`re one brave kid to take down a huge man like that," the blond said and nodded at me. I didn`t mind that he thought I was a kid because that would make him overconfident and they were the easiest men to beat. "But can you take me?" He started circling me and I knew what was coming.

He was foe. And he needed to be killed.

I hadn`t been on many raids but I had done well. I`d had a lot of practice back home, of course. Jason, who was the main reason I was a shieldmaiden in the first place, and I had fought every minute we could spare.

Jason was bigger and stronger than I am and would win when it came to fist fights. It doesn`t help to be able to predict how your opponent`s fists move if they hit you like a hammer.

But when we fought with swords or spears, I was always the winner. Jason was proud of me as I was of him. He was strong – I was smart. And possibly blessed by the gods.

And of course, I often ended up saving his muscular butt. Which was also why I`d volunteered to join him on this raid. He needed someone to watch his back.

Only Jason`s back was not here and I hated it when I was not there to look out for him. Instead I had to fight some cocky southerner.

I followed the moves of the blond guy and could see that he was looking for my weaknesses. He smiled his annoying smile. Well, it wasn`t annoying as such. But it was taking my attention away from the fight. And that was aggravating.

He would eat dirt very soon. I could see that he already counted himself the winner of this game – just like all the other guys I`d fought had.

They should build an altar for my sword. After all it had effectively weeded out quite a few stupid and overconfident men from this earth and stopped them from procreating.

I never made the first move when I fought someone and I had the patience to wait for his. Suddenly he jumped forward. For a man of his size, he was surprisingly fast and though I knew in advance that he would jump, I only barely managed to step aside. I turned my sword around while jumping and felt it meet his flesh. I`d managed to cut into his thigh.

Like me, the blond guy wore chain mail on his torso and his upper arms. It protected the vital parts of the body but left the legs open for cuts and slashes. Those cuts were rarely deadly but they would slow down a warrior and make it easier to kill him.

Removing my helmet always revealed my gender, of course, but my chain mail hit my womanly features. When people saw me in it, they probably just thought I was fat. Small and fat – and therefore a lousy fighter.

"Shit!" he shouted and I grinned. 1-0 for the shieldmaiden. "You`ll pay for that cut," he grunted

I wanted to taunt him but my voice was just too female to take the chance. I`d practiced lowering my voice with Jason but he`d told me I sounded like a moose in mating season when I tried. Actually he`d howled from laughter when I`d pretended to talk like a man. So I`d given it up.

I wanted to kill my enemies fair and square – not because they laughed so hard they couldn`t fight back.

The big blond jumped at me again, this time trying to trick me by taking steps to both sides, but I saw it coming and moved to the side. I managed to cut his arm. Not deeply, but enough to draw blood.

"Fucking hell!" he shouted and ran so fast into me that when I pulled back I tripped on a rock and lost my footing. I fell on my back, lost my helmet, but was up on my feet before he could take advantage of my fall.

I was ready to fight him again. I gave him my most menacing look, which I knew left a lot to be desired. I did not have any scars and my face was just too soft and feminine to be anywhere near scary.

His grin revealed that my gender was a pleasant surprise to him. A lot of warriors had long blond hair like I did – my opponent`s hair resembled mine in both length and color – but the soft features of my face gave me away.

"You`re a woman." The handsome warrior stated the obvious with a smug grin. He was living proof that handsome and stupid walked hand in hand. And this one was even better looking than my brother which meant he must be even more stupid too.

"Oh really?" I asked in feigned shock. "I`m so glad you told me or I would have never known."

"I`ll be happy to double check. One can never be too sure about these things," he said while pursing his lips.

"Is it really that important for you to know if it`s a man or a woman who kills you?" I asked.

"You`re a good fighter, I`ll give you that." He looked at the dead guy on the ground. "But I have no desire to fight you any more. At least not with this sword." He held up his weapon. "But I would love to penetrate you with my other sword. It will make you scream in pleasure instead of in pain."

I groaned. Yes – handsome AND stupid.

"I never fight guys with tiny swords," I replied, looking at his crotch.

His laughter roared. "I`ll give you the longest sword you`ve ever had, lover."

"That`s what they all say and all I get is a tiny twig. Killing you sounds so much better." I held up my sword and shield.

"Well, you can certainly try. I`ll settle for a kiss, though. It would be a shame to kill you." He made annoying kissing sounds.

"Keep going and the Valkyries will ban you forever. I think they have a rule against bringing annoying bastards into Valhalla."

He laughed again. "Who do you fight for?" he asked. "I want to know who had the balls to put you on his ship."

"I`m on Sam Dogbreath`s longship," I replied. It was only polite to let people know by whom they are going to be killed.

The blond guy stopped and relaxed his stance.

"You`re Sookie," he said. "Sookie the Shieldmaiden."

I stopped too, surprised that he knew my name.

"I`m Eric the Northman. I`m one of Queen Sophie-Anne`s men. We aren`t enemies," he said with a grin.

"That depends," I said. I was so set on killing this obnoxious man, I was disappointed when I had to stop fighting him.

"Depends on what?" he asked, smiling. He was all friendly now.

"How much you annoy me. And right now my annoy-cup is pretty full." I spat on the ground to further my point. Not very ladylike, but I didn`t want this guy to think he could charm me. And I wasn`t exactly a lady.

He took off his helmet and flashed me a smile. I`d bet a cow and a goat that that smile had made many a woman melt into a little puddle. And I could see he was waiting for a similar reaction from me. When he didn`t get it, I could read the surprise in his eyes.

2-0 for the shieldmaiden.

I grinned. I was still not accomplishing menacing or even scowling, but I liked to think that my grin, combined with my bloody sword and the dead body on the ground would be terrifying. Or at least unsettling.

Sometimes I wished I`d been tall like my brother. Or ugly. People just didn`t seem to have respect for a small woman with fairly large breasts. Even if she is about to plant her sword in their stomach.

Usually it worked to my advantage because the people I fought would underestimate me because of my size. But this guy wiped off his sword and put it in its sheath, looking completely confident. Then he took two strides towards me – strides that came as a complete surprise to me.

I found myself surprised by the fact that this man had surprised me – I am never surprised by anyone – and then he surprised me even more when he bent down, pulled me into his body and gave me a deep kiss.

He then walked away, leaving me gaping.

I hated surprises.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I hope you liked this beginning.

I hope to be publishing chapters to this story about once a week.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – Chapter two**

**A/N:**

I have a close resemblance to a fish right now, my mouth opening and closing in pure astonishment. What a reception you guys gave the first chapter of this story. I only have one word: **WOW!** Oh, and two more: **Thank you!**

I really hope I can live up to your expectations. Or rather, I hope I can take the story to places you didn`t expect and that you`ll enjoy reading it.

I want to thank **Suki59** for her betaing and all the great suggestions she has to this story. Sookie the Shieldmaiden wouldn`t have been the same without her!

**Charlaine Harris** owns all the characters. I only brought them home and sent them back in history.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter two<strong>

I found Jason all in one piece, luckily, strutting around like a proud rooster in the pillaged village after the battle had ended. He bragged to all his friends and though I found that side of him annoying, I was so relieved that he hadn`t gotten himself killed, I smiled and laughed like everyone else.

They`d lit a large fire in the middle of the deserted village and were roasting a piglet – pieces of it being cut off as soon as they were deemed ready to be eaten. I was chewing on a large piece, recognizing the hunger that always gnawed my stomach after a fight. People were drinking mead and ale and were listening to Jason`s stories.

Jason was a great storyteller. He had people screaming with laughter when he talked about the pig he`d tried to catch and how he`d ended up with his nose in the dirt. Jason wasn`t afraid of making fun of himself and that was a very endearing trait – one that I didn`t have, unfortunately. I was too serious and Jason had all the charm in the family.

"How about the women we found?" Rene asked. He was one of Jason`s friends and women were always the first thing he thought of after a fight. I always got hungry for food but Rene wanted sex.

I groaned. I hated this part of the raid. The part where merriment turned to blind drinking and people going berserk. It wasn`t that I had anything against drinking. Getting drunk was a way to celebrate with the gods. But there was one person who stood out in the crowd and that was me. I was the one with the soft chest and lacking an appendage between my legs.

Shieldmaidens were supposed to be sacred. We were maidens, not whores. I couldn`t imagine many shieldmaidens being virgins, of course. Sex was a sacred gift from the gods and one would be spitting in their faces if one didn`t accept what they had created for man and woman to enjoy.

But since we were often just one or two shieldmaidens on a boat full of men, the rule was for us not to have sex and for the men to respect that. Fifty men fighting over one woman would have been a road to disaster, bad blood and generations of blood feuds.

As the hour grew late, I knew there was no point in staying close to Jason. Any minute now he would charm his way between the legs of a local maiden – Jason did not believe in rape – and I would have to fight off whatever guy was too drunk to remember that I was a warrior and not some loot. I wasn`t booty in any sense of the word.

I got up and backed slowly away from the crowd around the bonfire, hoping no one would notice I was leaving as that always lead to comments and people dragging me back into the crowd. Most of the men here were my friends and neighbors but they still didn`t realize that I had to play by different rules than they did. I couldn't pass out from drinking and I couldn`t be the center of attention.

I could take the front row in the fight but when the after-fight party was peaking, I had to make myself invisible or suffer the consequences.

I felt an arm around my waist and immediately elbowed the owner of the arm in his stomach. Well, actually it was more like the neither region since I used my fist too. A tall blond man doubled over. Most of the men here were tall and blond, of course, but I recognized the guy I`d just fought.

"You!" I said.

Eric the Northman grinned allthough he was panting. I gloated inside because of the pain I`d caused him. "Yes, me. Having fun?"

I emptied my cup of mead and swallowed. Then I shrugged. I hadn`t paid attention to everyone in the crowd but I was fairly sure Eric the Northman had only just arrived to the victory party. Most likely his men were having their own celebration.

His arm found its way to my waist again. "We could go somewhere else," he said, bending down to my ear, his warm breath against my neck.

"Sure. You could go that way." I pointed into the woods at the outskirts of the village. "And I could go this way." I shrugged his arm off and walked towards our boat. The boat was always the safest place to stay because anyone down there was either too drunk or too young to be any real harm to me.

I`d expected him to protest, but he didn`t. I started walking, and didn`t look back to see if he`d found himself another maiden to celebrate with.

I took a deep breath of the evening breeze. The air was so much better down by the shore and it was a relief to be there. I could mend my wounds and possibly get a little rest.

I`d already taken off my chain mail earlier and was now only wearing my tunic and pants. I pulled up the sleeves of the tunic and washed my arms and face in the sea water. I jumped into our boat, picked up a blanket, found a place furthest from the shore and lay down. Before my head hit the planks of the boat, I was out like a light.

A sound startled me awake. A plank creaking, breathing, feet tiptoeing towards me.

I knew what was coming even if I didn`t know who it was. Someone wanted to have "fun" with me. I could feel it inside me and I could even predict his first move. He would throw himself on top of me and hope the element of surprise would work in his favor.

I thanked my lucky stars for my ability to predict people`s moves and slowly pulled my dagger out of my belt. I spent a tiny moment contemplating killing whoever was planning on raping me but ended up holding my knife upside down.

Just when the guy started to jump on me, I rolled away and hit him hard on the head with the handle of my knife. That was when I saw who it was.

"Rene!" I shouted. My brother`s friend.

Rene groaned and tried to get up. I wondered if I should hit him over the head again. He was Jason`s friend but I still didn`t trust him.

I was so preoccupied with Rene that a movement caught me by surprise. A sword flashed in the moonlight but was then lowered. I looked up, ready with my knife but knowing that I wasn`t in danger.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Eric the Northman, annoyed that he had caught me by surprise twice now. "I thought you`d be deep in the woods by now."

"Always ready to protect an innocent maiden," he said with a grin.

I snickered. It had been quite a few years since I was innocent – or a maiden.

"Shieldmaidens rarely need protection, Northman. If we do, we don`t last long."

The tall man nodded and flashed me a smile. Then he turned around and left the boat. I cursed the fact that the moonlight wasn`t bright enough for me to get a good look at his butt.

I shoved Rene overboard. If he drowned he could blame himself and if he didn`t the bath would only do him good.

Then I went back to sleep.

"Sookie, Sookie! You have to wake up."

I groaned at Jason`s cheerful voice.

I opened my eyes and gave him my best evil stare. He looked annoyingly good considering he`d only had a couple of hours of sleep. I, on the other hand, probably looked like I`d been sleepless for a week. At least that was how I assumed I looked judging from how I felt.

"What, Jason?" I mumbled.

"I have great news, Sookie."

I got up into a sitting position and rubbed my face with my hands.

"What, Jason?" I repeated.

"Eric the Northman asked me to join him on his ship. Can you believe it? Eric the Northman!"

I shook my head. Up until the day before, I had never heard of Eric the Northman. Now he`d asked my very sweet but oh so naïve little brother to bail on Sam Dogbreath?

"You know you can`t do that," I said with a sigh.

"Why not? Do you know who he is?" Jason sounded like a child. Actually Jason was a child in many ways.

"No," I replied. "Do you?"

"Of course, I do." Jason stopped when I cocked my eyebrow. He sighed. "Okay, so I didn`t know him until yesterday, but just look at the man. It would be an honor to be on his ship."

"It`s an honor to be on Sam`s ship. Not to mention that Sam keeps us both rich and safe."

"Eric would make us richer. I want to settle down soon, Sookie, and I need a big raid to …." Jason stopped and looked away.

"Who is it you want to impress, Jason?"

Jason had always gone from one woman to the next and I`d never seen him stay long enough with one girl to contemplate settling down with her.

"No one in particular. But I want to keep all my options open."

Translated: He wanted to make sure he could get any woman he wanted.

"You`ll get enough gold and livestock with Sam to make anyone thrilled to accept your proposal. And he`ll get you home alive. I think your future wife would prefer you not dead."

I saw no point in any further discussion so I got up and made my way off the boat and down on the beach. I noticed Sam walking towards me but pretended not to see him and turned and walked in the opposite direction.

"Sookie!" Sam shouted and reluctantly, I turned around to face him. He seemed to have a limp from the fight and his face didn`t look as good as it usually did. He was bruised and his nose was swollen.

So much for trying to avoid discussing Jason with Sam.

"Are we leaving soon?" I asked. Yes, I was a master of changing the subject in advance.

Sam looked confused. "You already know?"

"Know what?"

"That you and Jason are joining Eric the Northman`s crew. They`re loading their ship now. You should go help them out."

"Huh?"

I always had an intelligent reply ready.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I hope you liked this chapter and I will post the next one in a week.

When I wrote **Dead with the Vikings**, I sometimes added tidbits of information about the Vikings. I was fairly sure everyone would find them extremely boring but, to my surprise, a lot of the readers found them interesting.

Since I stumble over a lot of interesting information that I am dying to share, I will sometimes post Viking information here too, **but I have to stress that you don`t have to read all these silly facts to understand and enjoy the story in itself**. If you find these facts boring, I will certainly not hold it against you and you should not feel obligated to read my long A/Ns. There will be no exams at the end of the story :-)

* * *

><p><strong>Viking language<strong>

After posting the first chapter to this story I had quite a few questions about the language Vikings spoke and how similar it is to Scandinavian of today.

I`m certainly not going to claim to be any kind of expert on the Viking languages and since the Viking age lasted several hundred years and Vikings settled in from what is today Istanbul to what is today New Foundland, there must have been huge variations in the way they spoke.

As far as I know, Vikings understood each other – at least until Vikings were assimilated with the locals and spoke their language instead. Historians claim there were two major Viking languages:

* Eastern Nordic which later developed into Danish and Swedish.

* Western Nordic which later developed into Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese.

Vikings on the British islands spoke both these languages since settlers from what is today Denmark came to stay in what is now England and settlers from what is now Norway came to stay in Scotland and Ireland.

Today Danes, Swedes and Norwegians understand each other – though, some better than others. None of us understand Faroese or Icelandic, apart from a word here and there. I have tried to read original Viking texts and I couldn`t. I have friends who speak Icelandic who claim that the texts are similar enough to their language for them to be able to read them directly (and I envy them so much).

Vikings weren`t just raiders. They were traders and settlers too. Large groups of them settled in what is today Great Britain, Ireland, France, Ukraine, Belarus and they served as guards to the emperor of Miklagard (the Viking name for what was Constantinople and is Istanbul).

These settlements had an influence on, among other things, the local languages. You wouldn`t be able to say much in English without using words that originally came from the Vikings – something to think about for everyone around complaining about how "young people" can`t say two sentences without using English words.

"Anger," "die" and "slaughter" are all words from the Vikings – not a great surprise, perhaps? But also the words "sky," "husband" and "leg" are from those blond settlers.

Here is a list of some of the words that came into the English language from the Vikings:

anger – (ON angr 'grief') [1220-1250]

birth – (ON burðr) [1016-1150]

bleak – (ON bleikr 'pale') [1250-1300]

bloom – (ON blóm) [1016-1150]

call – (ON kalla) [before 1016]

cast – (ON kasta) [1016-1150]

crawl – (ON krafla) [c.1350]

crook – (ON krókr) [1016-1150]

die – (ON deyja) [1016-1150]

fellow – (ON félagi) [before 1016]

gear – (ON gervi 'equipment') [1300-1450]

get – (ON geta) [c.1250]

hit – (ON hitta 'to come upon') [1016-1150]

husband – (ON hús 'house' and bóndi 'householder') [before 1016]

ill – (ON illr) [1016-1150]

kid – (ON kiþ) [1220-1250]

kindle – (ON kynda) [1016-1150]

knife – (ON knífr) [1016-1150]

law – (ON lag 'law')

leg – (ON leggr) [1016-1150]

lift – (ON lypta) [1250-1300]

loan – (ON lán) [1016-1150]

loose – (ON lauss) [1300-1450]

low – (ON lágr) [1016-1150]

meek – (ON mjúkr 'gentle, soft') [1016-1150]

rag – (ON rögg) [1016-1150]

raise – (ON rísa to rise) [1016-1150]

ransack – (ON rann-saka 'to search a house') [1220-1250]

sale – (ON sala) [1016-1150]

scare – (ON skjarr 'timid') [1016-1150]

seem – (ON sæma 'to conform to') [1250-1300]

skill – (ON skil) [1016-1150]

skin – (ON skinn) [1016-1150]

skirt – (ON skyrt) [after 1450]

sky – (ON skie 'cloud') [1220-1250]

slaughter – (ON sláter 'butcher's meat') [1300-1450]

sly – (ON slœgr) [c.1250]

snare – (ON snara) [1016-1150]

take – (ON taka) [1016-1150]

thrive – (ON þrífa 'to grasp') [1016-1150]

trust – (ON traust) [c.1250]

ugly – (ON uggr 'fear') [1220-1250]

wand – (ON vöndr) [1016-1150]

want – (ON vanta) [1016-1150]

weak – (ON veikr) [1250-1300]

window – (ON vindauga 'wind eye') [1220-1250]

wing – (ON vengr) [1016-1150]

wrong – (ON rangr 'awry, unjust') [before 1016]

**Source**: www . vikingrune . com/2009/10/viking-words-in-english/


	3. Chapter 3

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 3**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for all your great reviews. I`m also amazed with how many of you who have put this story on your story alert list. I can`t tell you how thrilled I am.

I want to thank **Suki59** for making this story readable and **Charlaine Harris** for having created all the great SVM characters. I just sent them back in time and gave them nice long swords.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Eric the Northman had been busy while I slept. First he`d convinced my stupid brother that his value on the marital market would increase if he changed ships – though being married had been the last thing on Jason`s mind up until last night.

Then he`d challenged Sam to a fistfight and won – and had claimed Jason and me as his reward. Sam`s reward was a black eye and a nose that would never be as straight as it used to be.

Sam had been embarrassed in public, which made me dislike Eric the Northman even more. Sam was a good man. He was trustworthy and fair and even if he wasn`t the best fighter, he wasn`t the worst either. He didn`t deserve being challenged just because Eric the Northman wanted something Sam had.

"I`m not leaving your ship, Sam, and neither is Jason."

"I`m sorry, Sookie. This is not up for debate. Eric the Northman won fair and square and we all just have to live with it." Sam had that determined look in his eyes but the blush on his neck gave him away. He was very uncomfortable with the situation.

"What is lost can be won back," I said and started walking along the beach and after a few paces, Sam walked next to me. I knew where I was going – to the ships anchored up at the other end of the beach. I couldn`t see them from where I was, but I knew where they were. So did Sam.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "I`m not fighting him again. That wouldn`t be honorable."

"You may not fight him again, but I will." The stare I gave Sam made him stop and soon I was walking alone.

I had my faithful sword in my belt but I couldn`t fight Eric the Northman with that. A fight with swords would be a fight to the death. And as much as I didn`t want to die – I also didn`t want to kill Eric the Northman. There would be all kinds of payments to his family and I did not have that much gold. I also didn`t want to be the cause of alliances being broken and new wars being started.

So I stopped and went back to my boat to retrieve the blunt sword I used for practice and before heading back to Northman`s boat.

It was ridiculous, really, that he was called "the Northman" since we lived so much further to the north than he did. We were the ones having to suffer through harsh winters, not that soft-skinned Southie.

I tried to breathe deeply while I walked. I needed to release my anger and get my pulse down. If I wanted to beat Eric the Northman, I had to be cool and collected. No going berserk. Eric the Northman was much taller and stronger than I was and – more importantly – his arms were much longer. With my predicting his moves, I could hopefully escape his hits but I would need to be at my smartest to be able to hit him back.

"Northman!" I shouted when I saw his tall figure standing close to one of the longboats. He was commanding his people to load all the goods they`d taken and people were working hard, sweating under the sun. Everyone but Eric, if you don`t count shouting and waving one`s arms as working.

He turned and grinned at me, the cocky bastard. "If it isn`t my …."

I wasn`t interested in hearing what he was going to call me. Shipmate or mistress – I was going to be neither. "I challenge you," I said and stopped, situating myself in front of him. "A fight with blunt swords. The first one down loses."

His grin got wider. "And what is at stake?"

"I win, Jason and I leave with Sam."

"And if I win?" he asked.

A few of Eric the Northman`s men had gathered around us and were cheering us on. They were probably happy to get a break and some entertainment too.

"You won`t."

"Aw, don`t be like that. Give me some motivation here. I`ve already won the prospect of your lovely company all summer …."

"All summer?" I yelled.

"Sam didn`t tell you?"

Sam certainly hadn`t told me but then I hadn`t asked. I`d figured this arrangement was for one raid and one raid only.

"A kiss," he said.

"What?"

"When I win you`ll give me a kiss. And a real kiss, not just a peck on the cheek." Eric the Northman pursed his lips.

"You`re not going to win and I`m not going to kiss you. I`m a shieldmaiden. Have some respect."

The noises Eric the Northman`s men were making weren`t exactly respectful. I scowled at them.

"I asked for a kiss out of respect. I could have asked for more." Eric the Northman`s smile got a little harder and his eyes a little colder.

I was about to swear but every swear word I could think of was sexually laden and I was sure he would be able to make even "go fuck yourself" an invitation. So I stayed quiet and moved closer. Before he realized the fight was on, I hit him hard over the knee. I was hoping I`d hit that special place that paralyzes the knee for a few moments but no such luck.

"You bitch!" he yelled. "We hadn`t started yet."

"What are you? Three years old?" I taunted.

"I`m not settling for a kiss now." Eric the Northman`s shoulders were more squared and he looked menacing. If I hadn`t been so annoyed by him, he would have scared me to death. Which was probably what he wanted.

One of his guys tossed him a blunt sword and he immediately lunged at me. He was a skilled fighter but I made sure he never reached me. Predicting his every move came in very handy because I was fairly sure that just one blow from his sword would knock me over. And keep me unconscious for a week.

I did not have Eric the Northman`s strength but I had speed and agility so I managed to get close enough to hit him hard on his hip.

"Fucking hell!" he shouted.

"You know I`ll beat you. Why not save yourself the embarrassment?"

"You`re a good warrior. I would be crazy to let you slip away." He lunged again, this time doing some kind of double steps to trick me. Since I predicted his moves, I managed to hit him on his upper arm.

"Ouch. That`s going to bruise," I said, faking concern. Then I slammed my sword hard on the back of his knees and relished seeing him go down. The surprise on his face was priceless. So was the drop of his sword.

I was about to give him the death blow – or as much of a death blow one can give with a blunt sword – when his long arm grabbed for my legs. I`d seen it coming, of course, so I kicked his elbow, pushing it into his torso and making him fall backwards.

I would never have had a chance if it hadn`t been for the fact that I knew his moves almost before he did. He was larger and stronger than I am. I should have been humble since my victory was only due to the gift from the gods but I couldn`t help gloating when I saw his large body sprawled on the ground. His men laughed and for a moment I enjoyed the situation but then I turned around and walked away.

"Jason and I are leaving on Sam Dogbreath`s boat. I hope I`ll never see you again," I shouted back over my shoulder.

I had a huge smile on my face.

We`d finally loaded all our loot onto the boat and were rowing out the fjord. The sheep and chickens we`d taken were situated in the crates in the middle of the boat and the barrels of wheat, rye and mead were tied down to the benches we were sitting on. The animals had quieted down now and I was glad we`d left the cows for some of the other ships. They would have been a nuisance, though I wouldn`t have objected to fresh milk on the journey.

Most of the other boats had already left, including Eric the Northman`s. I was glad to know he`d realized I wasn`t about to give up my place at the oar of Sam Dogbreath`s longboat.

We were all going home but since his home was in a different direction from ours, I hoped I wouldn`t be seeing more of that annoying flatlander. One could always hope that Sam wouldn`t have us joining in on Sophie-Anne`s fights anymore. Queen Sophie-Anne was desperate to keep her crown. If she wanted to be rid of her uncle, she could fight her own wars.

Politics and wars between monarchs shouldn`t concern us as far to the north as we lived. We were outside the affairs of kings and queens, having never kneeled to one ourselves. An honest raid landing us plenty of gold and silver – that was what we were made for. Not alliances and fighting for nothing but someone`s right to a distant throne.

I was glad to be behind an oar because I had a lot of aggression I needed an outlet for. I would probably have had even more if I`d lost that fight with Eric the Northman, but then I wouldn`t have been behind this oar. I would have been one of his crew – a horrible thought.

The most annoying thing about Eric the Northman was how I couldn`t seem to get him off my mind. Yes, he was very handsome and one might even go as far as to call him sexy but I`d seen plenty of sexy men before – I`d even killed one or two (and they weren`t very sexy with their bowels hanging out or their throats cut). Somehow this guy had glued himself to my brain and that aggravated me.

Yes, I was hoping I would never see him again and yet I couldn`t help myself wondering what would have happened if I had indeed lost that fight. I would have had to go with him on his boat but it would also have meant a kiss. Or more.

"A storm is coming!" Sam`s shouts brought me out of my thoughts and I saw the dark clouds to our starboard side. We`d left the fjord and were out in the open sea and I hadn`t even noticed. "Pull harder!"

A storm was always bad news but this one looked worse than most of them. Not only was it darker but I could see lightning and hear faint thunder. I said a quick prayer to Thor and asked him to ride Tanngnjost and Tanngrisne somewhere else but the thunder they were creating with their hoofs was getting louder and louder – closer and closer.

I thought of my parents who`d lost their lives at sea, and looked over at Jason. At least he and I would be together if the ship went down. I also cast a glance at Claude, my cousin, and somehow the thought of my whole family – as small as it was – being with me now was a consolation. We lived together and if we drowned, we would do that together too.

I shook the thoughts of death away and pulled harder on my oar and so did everyone else. It wasn`t just getting home faster that was at stake now – it was life or death.

The sheep we`d taken on the raid bleated every time lightning struck and thunder roared and when the first rain hit us we all swore and pulled even harder on the oars.

And then we were hit by the storm and were thrown around from wave to wave, desperately trying to follow Sam`s orders and hoping we would all survive. We shouted our prayers to whichever god we hoped would listen while the sheep bleated even louder.

We all feared for our lives but fear would do us no good so we worked even harder, rowed even faster while the waves were trying to throw sheep, goods and men overboard.

After a long and desperate rowing without seeing any end to the storm, Sam barked the order we`d all been waiting for.

"Throw the sheep overboard! They may please the gods."

Claude tied his oar down and went to the middle of the boat where the sheep were bleating in fear.

He grabbed the first one, raised it over his head and said a few choice words to Odin and Thor. Then threw it overboard. He did the same with the next one and soon all the sheep were white dots in a dark sea with white foam.

I prayed that our sacrifice would be enough. Those sheep could have gotten us through the winter and made sure none of us would starve but who cared about starving six months from now if you were at the bottom of the ocean?

Claude untied his oar and was back at rowing.

Waves hit the boat and I was drenched with seawater and the rain pouring down. But then I noticed that it had been awhile since the last lightning. I looked up and far out in the distance, I could see the sky clearing up. I looked back at Sam at the rudder, nodded in the direction where I`d seen tiny glimpses of sun and smiled. Sam followed my gaze and the look he gave me made me grin from ear to ear. We would make it and we could thank Sam for making the right decision.

The wind decreased and soon the rain went from a shower to just a few drops. The waves were still high but when the first rays of the sun hit us through the clouds, everyone shouted out in relief. We were saved and it was all because of Sam`s choice to sacrifice the sheep. Yes, we might go hungry in the winter but at least we weren`t dead.

When the wind died down and the waves became more manageable, we rowed a bit slower and then Sam gave the order to raise the sail. I wiped my brow and took a deep breath. It had been a close call and drowning was certainly not a good way to die. I wasn`t sure how I did want to draw my last breath – while fighting someone or from old age with children and grandchildren surrounding me – but I was very pleased I`d survived this ordeal.

Lafayette the Dark came over with some water and distributed it to all the men. He was our cook and managed water and other necessities. I drank heavily and then I leaned back. There was plenty of work to be done with the sails but I left it to the ones who were stronger than I was. I was a great fighter but I did have fewer muscles than most of my fellow warriors.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

At first I thought I was hearing things but when I opened my eyes and looked out over the water, I could see it too. One of the sheep was still alive and was bleating so loudly that I saw that a couple of the guys noticed it too.

"Sam!" I shouted. When I had his attention I pointed in the direction of the sheep.

Sam turned the boat slightly. He was thinking what I was thinking. If the gods wanted us to have one of the sheep back, it would be impolite not to take their offer. It was amazing that the little creature was still alive. The gods must really have wanted us to have it.

When we were close to the sheep, the sun came out for real and if that weren`t a sign from the gods, I`m not sure what would have been. We pulled the sheep into the ship, gave it some water and I`m sure I wasn`t the only one who was saying some silent prayers.

That was when I heard another sound. I looked in the direction of the sound but couldn`t see anything. The sound was there again.

"Sam!" I shouted. "I think there`s another sheep."

We followed the sound for a bit. For long periods there was nothing and just when we were giving up, it was there again.

And then we all saw it. Goods were floating in the water. Barrels and pieces of wood. When we discovered the first corpse, Jason decided to state the obvious. "A ship went down in the storm."

We picked up anything of value and checked if any of the bodies were alive.

The sound was back. This time we could tell it was a yell. Someone was alive. After staring out in the distance, I could finally see someone waving.

"Sam! Someone is alive. We have to save him!" I yelled.

Sam maneuvered the boat in the direction I pointed and when we got closer I could see that there were two men waving. One guy with black hair that I didn`t know.

And Eric the Northman.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

No sheep were hurt while writing this chapter :-)

I must admit that I don`t know if the Vikings sacrificed animals when they were in a storm but they did sacrifice animals when celebrating. It was called _blot_ and they would kill an animal, spread its blood all over the walls and eat it in a huge celebration.

The Vikings probably sacrificed human beings too – mainly slaves. I`ve found mentions of slaves being sacrificed and their blood smeared on new boats and also of slave girls being buried in the same grave as important Vikings – male and female.

There have been mentions of criminals being sacrificed too but historians are not sure whether they were sacrificed to the gods or "just" given the death penalty. I`m not sure about all the crimes that carried the death penalty, but raping a virgin was one of them.

Viking law was fairly short since there were no prisons. Either you paid up to the person, or the family of the person, you`d hurt or you were given the death penalty or named an outlaw. In Scandinavian the word is "_fredløs_" which can be translated into "peaceless". It meant you were ostracized from society and anyone could kill you – a terrible sentence for Vikings who depended on their friends and family for survival.

The English word "law" comes from the Norse word "_lov_" and the Viking judicial system did have some likeness to what we know today.

A _Ting_ consisting of 12 free men would listen to accusations – or facts as they would call them – put forward by a group of people and the _Ting_ would expect the god Ull to point them to the correct verdict. If the case was very important the _Ting_ could consist of two or three times 12 people. I`m not sure why the number 12 was so important but we recognize it from the number of jurors in many courts today.

People could also choose to settle their own differences by entering into a _Holmgang_ where two people would go to a secluded area, for instance an island, and fight. The winner of the fight was the winner of the quarrel. The loser would either be dead or termed a _niding._

It was important to have a functioning legal system since the alternative was generations of blood feuds that would kill whole families and leave areas empty – which was actually the result several times.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – Chapter 4**

**A/N:**

I just can`t get over the number of people who have chosen to subscribe to this story or favorite it – not to mention all your great reviews. Thank you so much!

I also want to thank **Suki59** for betaing this story. If you want to see my writing without her amazing betaing skills – look at my A/Ns. I write them right before I post a chapter and they are filled with all kinds of mistakes. Sorry!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Eric the Northman and Chow Blackhair, as he introduced himself, were more dead than alive when we pulled them onboard. The crew grabbed whatever floating goods they could find while I gave Eric the Northman and Chow Blackhair something to drink. I couldn`t offer them dry clothes as the rain had drenched everything but I found some blankets and furs and helped rub some heat back into their bodies.

Eric the Northman`s lips were blue and Chow Blackhair was in even worse condition with his teeth chattering and his skin almost white from the cold water. Neither of them would have survived much longer if they`d stayed in the water.

But they were far from safe. I`d seen men die long after they`d been pulled out of cold water. I needed to get some warmth into these two men.

"Claude and Jason!" I called. "Bring me some more blankets and get over here."

When my cousin and my brother made their way over to where I was helping our two shipwrecked guests, I ordered Jason to lie behind Chow and Claude behind Eric. I stretched out in the middle and made Jason and Claude push us all closely together. We pulled blankets and furs over us and hoped our body heat would help the two men we`d pulled out of the ocean.

I was on my side, facing Eric the Northman, and rubbed his arms under the blankets. He wasn`t fully conscious so I started talking to him as well. I could hear Jason talking to Chow Blackhair behind my back.

"Stay awake," I whispered. "Don`t slip into unconsciousness. Stay with me. If you don`t stay with me, I`ll knock you down even faster than I did the last time. I`ll kick your ass if you die on me now."

A sound came from his lips.

"What did you say?" I whispered.

"Sookie?" he asked.

I smiled. "Yes, this is Sookie the Shieldmaiden." I rubbed his arm even harder. He couldn`t die on me now.

"Give me a kiss."

Claude started laughing behind Eric`s back but Jason was cursing.

"I`ll kiss you if my cousin won`t," Claude said.

A tiny smile came on Eric the Northman`s lips. "I suppose … it`s the closest … I`ll get."

I huffed. Eric the Northman was going to kiss my cousin, Claude, because I wouldn`t kiss him? What a silly man. But as I knew it would make Claude happy, I certainly wouldn`t get in his way.

Suddenly I felt lips on mine. It was a light kiss, just brushing my lips, but it was a kiss.

I was staring at Eric the Northman`s face when his very blue eyes suddenly opened and I was looking into them.

"I must have kissed … the wrong cousin … by mistake," he said with a tiny smile.

Claude barked out another laugh.

Eric and Chow had to come home with us as we couldn`t afford the detour to take them home. They would stay in our village until they`d found a ship that sailed to the flatlands they came from.

Both of them had recovered fully before we saw our homeland`s coastline but they were both affected by what had happened to them. I didn`t know Chow at all and I couldn`t say I was very familiar with Eric`s habits either but I was fairly sure that neither of them were normally as quiet as they`d been since we picked them up from the water.

I knew Eric blamed himself. Any leader would when his men died. I also knew that no matter what anyone said or did, he would still feel the same. A man like Eric would be too proud to listen and I respected him for that. We`d been lucky to survive but Eric the Northman`s men hadn`t. There was a fine line between life and death and any man going on board a ship knew that.

Sam decided that Eric and Chow were my responsibility since I`d heard them yelling in the water and also brought them back to life. They were both being placed in the longhouse I shared with Jason and Claude.

Even if I hadn`t been the one who`d heard Eric and Chow, they would probably still be sleeping in our house since we had plenty of room for guests.

I couldn`t wait to have two more attractive men under my roof. As if the line of ladies and men (Claude did not believe in discriminating against anyone) outside our door wasn`t too long to handle already.

"Thank you, Sam," I said – sarcasm being my new best friend. I`d tried to argue with him ever since he`d raised the topic on the boat, but now that we were home and Sam had his wife and children running towards him on the beach, I accepted defeat.

Sam shrugged and smiled at his family while holding his arms open for them. I sighed.

"Come one, then," I said to Eric and Chow who followed me to the longhouse I shared with my brother and my cousin.

Truth be told, our longhouse was fairly empty compared to some of the others. There were families of 20 or 30 cramped together in most of the houses and here we were, just the three of us in one big house. But then Jason and Claude were all the family I had. Claude`s parents had died from an awful chest cough when he was just a toddler and our parents had taken him in. When they drowned, there was only Gran left and she`d passed away last year.

A three-person family was a small family and it had been hinted more than once that we should all get married. But Claude and Jason claimed they hadn`t found that one girl who would make them want to settle down and I enjoyed being a shieldmaiden too much to give it up.

And, of course, none of us had any older family members who could force us into marriage.

I opened the door to our longhouse and that was when it hit me. We only had the three beds. When Gran was alive, I`d shared a bed with her and when my parents were alive, Jason and Claude had slept in the same bed.

This past year Jason, Claude and I had enjoyed the luxury of each having a bed to ourselves. We`d situated them as far apart as possible in the big room. That was mainly because Jason and Claude often had company in their beds and neither of them were very discreet about it.

I looked at Jason and Claude and as if Claude had read my mind, he quickly said, "Eric the Northman can share my bed and Chow Blackhair can sleep with Jason."

I smiled. Both because I wouldn`t have to share my bed with anyone but also because I figured Eric the Northman wouldn`t get much sleep. Claude was like Eric. If he saw something – someone – he wanted, he could be fairly aggressive in his pursuit. Eric was about to taste his own medicine.

Eric the Northman opened his mouth to say something but then he smiled instead. I would have thought his smile meant that he welcomed his new sleeping partner but I couldn`t be sure when he gave me a wink. I had no idea what it meant.

Eric the Northman was truly annoying.

After having carried everything that was ours from the boat to our house, I went to see my old friend Tara. After having been in the company of men, and men only, for so long I longed for some female company.

Tara had been my friend since we were children. She and Jason had been a couple for a while but to my grief, she chose to marry someone else. Not that I blamed her – Jason just wasn`t husband material – but I would still have loved to have had her in my family and my house.

Tara was all the things I used to be – carefree, smiling and gentle. She would have been the perfect wife to Jason even if he would have been a terrible husband to her.

"Sookie!" she exclaimed. She`d been sitting outside the house she shared with her husband JB the Dumb (JB wasn`t smart but he was nice and a good provider and that was what mattered to Tara), their children and JB`s parents, sharpening her knife when she saw me. The knife went flying and Tara jumped into my arms. "I`m so glad you`re alive."

Tara was always sure I would die every time I left the village. She couldn`t understand why I chose to fight when I could stay at home and have children but then she was an only child and didn`t have any kid brothers she needed to protect.

"Of course, I`m alive. Do you doubt my fighting skills?" I asked with a smile.

Embracing Tara was always what made me feel at home. In her company I could relax and let my guard down. I could tell her about what I`d seen – what I`d done – and I didn`t have to be the cold warrior who killed without remorse.

"You know I don`t, Sookie. I just wish …."

I knew what Tara wished for. That I would stay at home in the safety of the village.

"I know, Tara." I hugged her again. "But that`s not for me. You know that."

She nodded. "It`s just that I see what all the killing is doing to you. I don`t want to lose that sweet and caring friend of mine."

I gave her a third hug. "You won`t." I knew what she meant, though. Fighting people and killing them was changing me. I was growing colder and I wasn`t sure I liked it.

Tara pulled back. "You smell like four days on the sea, Sookie." She wrinkled her nose. "Even fierce warriors need to wash themselves from time to time."

I laughed and we said our goodbyes. I would have plenty of time to talk to Tara in the weeks to come. Sam never planned for more than a couple of raids every summer since the village was defenseless with all the warriors gone.

I went to the river outside the village to wash myself. Most of my fellow crew members were there already and the mood was playful. We`d not only survived – we`d brought home treasures and food that would mean prosperity instead of hunger.

I took my clothes off. I was used to being the only woman in a group and also fairly used to being the only naked woman in a group. Being a shieldmaiden meant the men had to respect my saying no to their offers of companionship but it also meant that I had to be one of them. It had been years since I`d been embarrassed about my nudity in front of my fellow warriors.

Just as I was removing my last piece of clothing, something made me look up towards the path from the village. I looked straight into two very blue eyes staring at me. Eric the Northman stood there while Jason, Chow and Claude walked past him. A tiny smile curled his lips, a smile that made me want to cover my breasts.

Instead I huffed, finished undressing and jumped into the water. Eric the Northman should not have that effect on me. He should not have any effect on me.

I passed the soap and ointments onto the next man and dived under. I enjoyed the feeling of fresh, cold water in my hair. I broke the surface and quickly undid my braids. Sam handed me the soap and the ointments for my hair and I washed myself thoroughly, wanting to get all the blood and fear off my skin. Then I dived under again.

I`d always been a fish in water and now I enjoyed diving even more. It kept me away from those burning blue eyes I`d rather not look into. Or have ogling my naked body.

I came up for air and noticed Jason, Claude and Chow making their way out into the river. Eric the Northman, on the other hand, just stood there. Naked.

It was my turn to stare. The flatlander had an amazing body – and I`d seen quite a few. I`d already known he was tall and had broad shoulders but his build had been hidden under his clothes. He had muscles everywhere on that tall frame. His chest was covered with blond hair, a little trail going southwards to his ….

I kept my eyes on his chest, his shoulders, his arms. He was magnificent.

And he knew it.

He also knew that I had been staring at him for what seemed like all afternoon. He slowly undid his braids and let his long blond hair fall freely over his shoulders. I had to force myself to breathe or I would have passed out in the water.

I looked at Claude who was also admiring Eric the Northman. Claude must have felt my eyes on him because he turned around and winked at me. Then he made his way over to me.

"He is gorgeous, isn`t he?" he asked, nodding towards Eric the Northman who was now looking at us.

"Probably not the word I would have used, but yes, he`s not exactly ugly." Claude and I had always discussed men and I didn`t see any reason not to just because it was Eric the Northman, Claude`s future bed partner.

"You can have him, you know." Claude smiled at me.

"What do you mean?"

"He wants you, not me. So if you want him in your bed, you can have him."

"Why would I want him?" I asked though I could hear how silly it sounded what with my having drooled over Eric the Northman just moments ago.

Claude laughed. "Because you`re not blind?"

"You can keep him, Claude. I`m sure you can make him very happy."

"That I can, dear cousin. My skills are unmatched and I do think I know more about pleasing a man than you do."

"Well, thank you for that vote of confidence," I said and slipped under the water. I didn`t need to hear my own cousin tell me I was a lousy lover. Yes, he was tall and dark and very handsome but I`d never looked at him as competition. I wasn`t going to start now.

When I came up again, I was staring straight into the chest I`d just been admiring.

"Sookie …," he started but I quickly dived under the water again and swam to the edge of the river. I got out and quickly put on my clothes. Then I made my way back to the house.

On my way through the village I could smell all the dishes being cooked for tonight`s party. My stomach growled and I realized I hadn`t eaten all day.

At the house I changed into my dress, combed and braided my hair and put on the one piece of jewelry I had from my mother, on a long silver chain. I had taken plenty of jewelry on the raids but this was the only one that had meaning for me. It was a small figurine of Freia and I kissed it before I let it fall onto my chest.

"It`s beautiful," a voice said from the door.

I turned around to see Eric the Northman standing there wearing only his trousers, his wet hair dripping down his chest.

"It is," I replied and pushed him aside to get out. I was hungry. And I wanted to celebrate.

Jason, Claude and Chow came up the path from the river and were as wet as Eric.

"There won`t be any mead left for you if you don`t hurry," I teased.

"As if you`re going to drink it all," Jason said. "Sookie doesn`t drink much," he told Chow. "She`s afraid of letting her guard down."

"I`ll drink as much as you, Jason." I immediately regretted saying it but what was said was said. Jason rarely drank that much either since he was afraid it would ruin his performance with the ladies so I figured it wouldn`t be that bad.

If I`d regretted my vow to drink as much as Jason when I made it, it was nothing compared to how I felt when Claude refilled both of our cups. Again. I`d had at least three times as much to drink as I usually had and I was drunk. No, I was beyond drunk and I hated it.

But I had to drink what Jason drank or I would lose honor so I emptied the cup Claude had just filled. Jason put his cup to his mouth but only drank half of it before he fell backwards into the grass.

While we`d been cleaning ourselves, the women of the village had made a huge bonfire on the outskirts of the village and they`d carried every available bench and table out there so we could all eat the roasted pigs and chicken they had prepared.

If it had been raining we would have crowded Sam`s longhouse but with the long summer evenings, clears skies, and the sun still up, there was no need for a roof over our heads. All we needed was meat, mead and good company.

Everyone around the fire laughed and a couple of the women threw themselves over Jason, officially to help him back to consciousness but really to touch his manly parts. Since all of Jason was manly parts he was thoroughly touched.

Jason would probably only mind the fact that he wasn`t conscious to feel it whereas to me that looked like a nightmare. I imagined my lying there, having two men touching me while unconscious, and shuddered.

I shook my head when Claude tried to fill my cup again; got up, wobbled my way to the outhouse to pee and then wobbled even worse back to the house.

I barely managed to pull my dress off – it was almost impossible to unfasten the belt – and finding my way under the blanket turned out to be a mystery.

I fell asleep on top of my blankets. It was cold but I was too tired to do anything about it. After awhile I started shivering but then I felt a hand pull my blankets up around me.

"Gran?" I whispered, though I knew deep down that Gran was dead.

I felt a kiss on my cheek and smiled into the darkness. I knew it wasn`t Gran but it felt so much like her it made me feel loved and I slipped back to sleep.

I was deep in a dream where Gran and I were gathering berries in the forest when I felt a weight next to me in my bed. Then someone made his way down under my covers.

"What are you …?" My voice was hoarse from drinking and my head hurt.

"I would rather have your arms around me than Claude`s, if you don`t mind," Eric whispered.

"What? No!" I was suddenly awake. "Get out of my bed!" I hissed.

But all the commotion made my stomach turn. And then it turned again. All the mead was making its way up my throat. I felt Eric get up from my bed and then he pulled me into a sitting position, my head hanging over the side of the bed.

"Try to throw up into the bucket," he said.

"What bucket?" I asked and then I felt that nasty acid in my mouth. Before I could stop it I was throwing up. In a bucket.

"The bucket I got for you before I went to bed."

I felt his large hand on my back going up and down as on a baby who needs to burp. Another round of vomit decided to leave my stomach and I felt absolutely awful.

When my stomach had decided it had emptied itself of all its contents, a cup was shoved into my hand.

"Drink it. It`s fresh water."

I gulped the water down and it actually made me feel better. Then I fell back into my bed, the cup being pulled out of my hand, and vaguely heard the door opening and closing. And then opening and closing again a few minutes later.

Eric got into my bed again. I wanted to stop him but I was too exhausted. I was on my back, trying to stop my bed from spinning and couldn`t bother with the extra company I was having.

Eric was on his side facing me and soon I had his arm over my stomach. He leaned into my neck and then he whispered into my ear: "You smell from your mouth, Sookie. Turn towards the wall."

I groaned but did as he said. I was too tired to argue.

Then I fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I hope you liked this chapter!

Before I post the next chapter to this story next week I`ll probably post a little one-shot I wrote. It`s a parody and not very romantic but it might still interest you. Here`s a blurp:

_Sookie loves Eric the Viking – the hero in the romance novels she is reading. He is the perfect man and the guy of her dreams. Suddenly he isn`t just a character in her books. He is standing in her living room – claiming Sookie is his Heart`s Desire._

* * *

><p><strong>Vikings and the sagas<strong>

I`ve had a lot of people say they liked all my little tidbits about the Viking age. You know, it`s very dangerous for you to say something like that. It`ll only make me want to write even more – and my A/Ns will grow ridiculously long :-)

But to avoid this being an entirely selfish thing where I get to write about whatever is on my mind, I`ll take requests. Is there anything you want to know about in the Viking age or something you would like me to discuss? I`m not sure I can answer all your questions – or rather, I`m pretty sure I can`t. But I`ll research the things you ask me about and tell you what I come up with.

Today I would like to talk about the **Viking legacy**.

Someone once said that the winners write the history. That person obviously never met the Vikings because they wrote very little down (apart from the odd rune stone with a few words carved into it). Most of the written sources about the Vikings are either told by people they conquered, people who visited them or they were written long after the Vikings lived – like the sagas.

The sagas were written hundreds of years after the events they describe took place. And what is more important is the fact that the sagas were written after our part of the world had been Christianized.

The sagas were based on oral storytelling, delivered from generation to generation. But that doesn`t mean the stories didn`t change from each time they were told – and when they were written down. The outlook on things changed after the Vikings gave up the old faith. That is especially the case when it comes to the outlook on women.

Women were basically portrayed as cold and hard and mean in the sagas. Women encouraged their men to take revenge and to kill people who`d wronged them. Some historians claim this was how the sagas managed to explain all the strong women in pre-Christian Scandinavia given how women were supposed to be more submissive when the sagas were written. Strong Viking women must have been cruel – why else would a woman have power?

I want to give you an example – namely the wife of King Eric Bloodaxe, **Queen Gunnhild**.

Eric Bloodaxe did not get his name because he liked to use his axe for shaving and sometimes cut himself. Eric Bloodaxe used his axe to kill his brothers. Well, half-brothers, but most of us would agree that you really should keep your axe away from your brothers even if you don`t have the same mother.

So where does Gunnhild come into this story?

Well, the sagas say that Eric Bloodaxe went to the north of Norway and met her. There`s a long tale about how he fell for her and won her – sexier than any historical romance, I can tell you that – and the sagas have an explanation as to why he was so obsessed with her. This wasn`t just a king falling in love with a woman and marrying her. No, Gunnhild bewitched Eric sexually and was behind Eric`s bloodlust.

The sagas say that she studied witchcraft (apparently with the Sami people – who were considered half monsters by the Christians), that she killed her witchcraft teachers and had a supernatural sexual power.

Gunnhild was the woman behind the man, according to the sagas. Eric Bloodaxe would not have been half as bloody had it not been because of her. She killed some of his enemies with herbs and talked him into killing the rest of them – probably with his axe.

And when he died, she took young lovers even though – and the saga writers really didn`t like this – she was beyond her fertile years. She would use witchcraft to get these young lovers and if they left her, she could be quite vengeful. The sagas talk about one of Gunnhild`s former lovers whose penis grew so large his wife divorced him. Poor guy.

But the basic idea was that Eric Bloodaxe wouldn`t have been so blood thirsty if it hadn`t been for his wife.

Really, his father was to blame.

King Harald Fairhair, Eric`s father, encouraged the killing of Eric`s brothers. Yes, Harald asked one of his sons to kill some of his other sons. Nice family, huh? I could give you a long explanation for this but basically it was because King Harald had worked all his life to make Norway one kingdom and he didn`t want to see all his sons divide it up again. Better to have some of them killed to avoid that, right?

Apparently Queen Gunnhild supported the idea, as did Eric Bloodaxe. And truth be told, Eric Bloodaxe`s brothers did try to kill him too. Several times.

The end of the story was that Norway wasn`t divided and I would like to say that they all lived happily ever after. But they didn`t. Especially not the guy whose penis was too large :-).

I want to give you a quote from historian Johan Schreiner (my translation):

"Gunnhild was demonized as some kind of sexual witch and because of this smear campaign [in the sagas] it`s not possible today to reconstruct the real Gunnhild. The saga writers probably wanted to cover her intelligence and important role, to the benefit of her husband who was intellectually weaker." (From: Levende historie)

**The sagas**

I may sound as if I don`t like the sagas, but I do. The stories they tell are amazing and some of them are very well written.

The sagas were written on Iceland and the word means "what is said" in old Norse. They were written between 1120 and 1400 (the Viking age stopped before 1100) and were a part of a very rich writing tradition on Iceland. The sagas were written on calf skins in the autumn nights when there wasn`t much to do in the agriculture – there were no harvest on Iceland.

The writers of these sagas were sort of an intellectual upper class on Iceland and were admired – and financially supported.

29 of the long sagas have been found but in addition to these there are short sagas, religious sagas and royal sagas. Even with their bias, they are an incredible source of information about the Viking age.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – Chapter 5**

**A/N:**

Apparently Fanfiction has been acting up again. Several people complained about never getting the alert about the last chapter. If this happens again, just remember that there`ll be a new chapter to this story every Sunday or Monday (I hope :-D) so if you subscribe to the story and you`re not alerted about new chapters – just stop by Fanfiction anyway. I may have published an update without you knowing about it since Fanfiction didn`t send you an alert.

Thank you so much for all your great reviews. I really do appreciate your thoughts on this story and I`m happy to see that you like fierce Sookie.

I also want to thank **Suki59** for betaing this story and I want to send her a big hug and hope she is feeling better. It`s not easy to let go of a beloved pet.

**Charlaine Harris** owns all the characters in this story. I just borrowed them for a while and gave them nice, shining swords.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

My head felt as if the blacksmith had beaten it all night when I woke up the next morning. My mouth was like I`d been chewing on a woolen blanket – a rotten, woolen blanket.

I didn`t want to get up. Not now and not ever. But Claude had different plans. Suddenly I had cold water on my face.

"What in the name of Loke, Claude?" I shouted and jumped out of bed – which was now wet.

"Your guest is hungry. You need to feed him."

"If you mean Eric then he`s just as much your guest as mine. You can go feed him."

"You invited him into your bed last night so he`s your responsibility now." And with that Claude turned and walked out of the house.

"I never invited him anywhere!" I shouted at the closed door.

"Be quiet, Sookie," Jason groaned from his bed. "I have a headache."

I fought my aching head and got out of bed. I put on my dress but didn`t rebraid my hair. The braid from last night just had to do for now. I went outside to fetch water but immediately regretted it because the sun was up and its rays felt like spikes piercing my eyes. I groaned loudly and held my hand up to cover them.

"Not feeling too well?" a voice asked. Eric was sitting just outside the house and seemed to be enjoying the sun. He looked way too good to have been drinking heavily last night – or almost drowned a couple of days ago. Then I remembered how he`d helped me when the mead had decided not to stay in my stomach and I felt myself blush.

"No, Eric. I`m not feeling too well but apparently I had to get up to cook you breakfast."

"I could have cooked but now that you`re up, I`m not saying no to a decent meal."

I rolled my eyes but when that hurt I just walked away. I`d make a nice breakfast for my _guest. _But first I needed to wash myself. It was years since I`d last thrown up from drinking and I wanted to kick myself that it had happened last night. It was embarrassing and entirely unnecessary.

Eric the Northman did not seem to want to go back to Claude`s bed so he slept in mine every night. Apart from the arm I often found myself having around my waist when I woke up, he didn`t touch me. But he did keep me awake. The next two nights I hardly slept because I had him so near me.

When I`d shared my bed with Gran it had been comforting. Eric the Northman was anything but.

During the day he and Chow helped out with the chores in the village and I hardly saw him. I had my own chores and I also chose to spend some time with Tara. I needed her company now more than ever. She kept reminding me of who I was and I needed that to stay grounded. I was a fierce warrior to everyone else but with Tara I was just Sookie.

I felt calmer with Tara and I enjoyed the feeling. But I had responsibilities too and the most important one was called Jason so in the afternoons Jason and I trained with our swords. I wanted him as fit as possible, as capable in a fight as I could make him. I also wanted to get away from Eric who seemed to spend much of his time in Sam`s company.

Jason and I were in the middle of a fight when someone yelled,"Ships!"

I quickly grabbed my fighting sword and Jason did the same. We ran towards the shore, not knowing if the ship was friend or foe. Most of the men in the village were down by the shore with their swords too and I knew the women and children were grabbing their knives and long-blades back in the village. Our village was armed to the teeth and we were not going to surrender to just anyone.

I`d often wished the villages we raided would be empty when we came, that people would have fled so we didn`t have to kill them. But standing here, waiting for someone who might want to steal our goods and turn us into slaves, I knew just why people fought us when we came. There was no other choice.

Every warrior from the village was standing shoulder to shoulder on the beach. I was staring at the ship coming closer and closer, trying to read the colors of the sail to see who it was, but I didn`t recognize them.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my upper arm and I jumped at the touch. Eric leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Put this ring on."

He handed me a beautiful silver ring in the shape of a snake. Not knowing why it was important to wear that ring, I slipped it on my thumb as it was too big for any of my other fingers.

"Don`t worry," he said. "Those are Queen Sophie-Anne`s men." He stepped up next to me.

I relaxed a bit but could see that Eric was still tense so I didn`t sheathe my sword. I shouted Eric`s words to Sam and saw him nodding back at me. He`d apparently just recognized the colors himself.

The ship came in and the first man to jump off it looked almost like a boy. He wasn`t very tall and didn`t have a moustache or beard. His face looked as smooth as if he`d just shaved but there was something about him that told me he`d never had to run a knife over his cheeks. His eyes were cold and his face didn`t show any emotions, even with a beach full of warriors greeting him.

"Andre Beardless," I said to no one in particular. I had never seen him before but who else would be a ruthless warrior and look like a boy?

"The one and only," Eric said.

"Sheath the swords!" Sam shouted and we all did as we were told. A few of us exhaled loudly but there was still a tense feeling and not even Sam went down to greet Andre Beardless.

Andre Beardless made his way over to Eric and nodded to him.

"Good to see that you are still alive, Eric. Rumors had you drowned."

"I was saved. And so was Chow."

"Splendid," Andre Beardless said without showing any kind of emotion. He turned to look at me. "And you must be Sookie the Shieldmaiden?"

"I am," I said.

"You have quite the reputation."

"I am honored," I said because I chose to read his comment as a compliment. After all, he could have meant an entirely different reputation.

"I am planning to honor you more," he continued. "I am here to claim you as my wife."

Even if I had known what to say my lips wouldn`t have been able to form the words. His wife? The wife of a complete stranger?

For some reason I noticed how the birds had started to sing again and the sound of the waves hitting the beach. I heard the chickens in the village and the sail from Andre Beardless` ship being pulled down. But all the human voices seemed to have been erased from my hearing.

Marry Andre Beardless? Impossible!

Then I heard Eric coughing next to me. "I am sorry to tell you that it`s too late to claim Sookie as I`ve already made her my common law wife and am planning on marrying her as soon as possible."

I stared at Eric and only now noticed that he was wearing my necklace. My mother`s necklace.

"She is your wife, Eric? You must have moved fast." Andre`s voice was cold.

"Sookie is a very special woman. But as you can see, she is wearing my ring and I am wearing her necklace. We share her bed and have since I arrived in her village."

"So she`s not just one of your casual lovers?" Andre asked.

"No. Sookie is my wife."

I wanted to shake my head. Deny Eric`s preposterous claim. Tell him he must be crazy to think that a few nights in the same bed meant that we were married. But something stopped me.

Andre stared at us for a few moments. Then he nodded. "It`ll work almost as well. You`ll bring Sookie with you and she will fight for Sophie-Anne."

"But …," I started.

"Yes?" Andre said in a way that told me he wasn`t used to people objecting.

"I have my life here. My brother, my … "

"You can bring your brother. We will leave in the afternoon."

"I don`t want to leave, Sam," I told him again.

I`d followed Sam home and invited myself inside. His wife had taken all their children, babies and kids almost as big as she was, and made them leave so that we could have a private discussion.

"I know that, Sookie, and I wish you didn`t have to. We will miss you and Jason very much. But when Queen Sophie-Anne asks someone to come to her court, there really is only one answer." Sam looked sad.

"But she isn`t our queen."

"No, she isn`t but she is an ally. A dangerous ally."

Sam gave me a hug and with that he told me that he didn`t expect to see me again. Before he could watch me crying, I left his house and went to Tara`s house. Anything to delay the packing and my leaving the village that had always been my home.

If I had managed to avoid crying Tara`s eyes were red and tears filled her eyes again when she saw me. I wanted to hug her – touch her – but couldn`t. I was afraid I would break if I came too close to her.

"I will miss you," I said, my voice sounding strange.

"Try to make your way back, Sookie."

I nodded and after a few moments of just sitting together on her bench, I got up and left. I didn`t want to say goodbye and I didn`t look back when I walked out of her house.

I had to go home to pack my things and I knew I couldn`t delay it any longer.

Jason was there already, a huge smile on his face and when he saw me he gave me a hug. Jason was not a hugger which meant he was very pleased. Claude was there too. I couldn`t read his face but he wasn`t smiling.

"Thank you for remembering me, cousin," he said, his eyes narrow and his jaw clenched.

"Did you want to go with us?" I asked, not sure if he was angry with me.

"Of course, I did. What warrior wouldn`t want to be a part of Sophie-Anne`s army?" Claude`s voice left no doubt about his bitterness.

"I don`t," I said. "I want to stay here."

"But you aren`t, are you? You`re destined for better places, bigger fights. You brought your brother with you. What about me?"

"I could ask. I`m sure they would be thrilled with getting the extra sword."

That made Jason smile even broader. "All three of us going! It would be perfect."

I wasn`t so sure about that but went to pack my things instead of staying with a thrilled Jason and an angry Claude. You can`t fight fate.

Just as I`d finished packing, Eric entered.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"No. But I never will be."

He pretended not to hear me and picked up some of my things. "Let me help you carry your things."

"Sure. I suppose that`s the least I can expect from the husband I didn`t know I had." I tried to burn holes in his tunic with my eyes, not wanting to meet those ice-blue ones of his. I should have blamed Andre the Beardless or the Mistresses of Fate for having to leave my beloved village but Eric was a very handy recipient of my anger.

Eric grinned, either oblivious of or just plainly neglecting my being furious at him. "Oh, you can expect much more."

And with that he was out the door.

I`d saved his life and he`d paid me back by pulling me away from mine.

I looked at Jason and Claude and wasn`t sure if I was pleased or saddened by the fact that they were leaving with me. Family meant a lot to me, especially since I had so little of it. Perhaps having Jason and Claude leave with me would make the departure a little easier to bear.

But I also knew that I had fought my whole life to keep my brother safe and now I was bringing him to Sophie-Anne`s court – a place where he was likely to meet an early death.

"I`m sorry," I whispered, hoping my parents and Gran could hear me.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

After the previous chapter I asked you if you had any questions about the Viking age that you wanted me to look up and **Northman Maille** had two:

1, How does one become a shieldmaiden and could one retire from the role?

2, Claude appears to be bi or gay. Would there be a stigma about that? Would he be expected to marry anyway?

Those are excellent questions. Unfortunately I can give you much better answers to the second question than the first one.

**Becoming a shieldmaiden**

When I researched for this story I could find very little information about the shieldmaidens and their lives. I found referrals to various shieldmaidens but nothing about rules of conduct or how many they were.

There were King Augvald`s two daughters who fought and died by their father`s side – or so the sagas say.

There was also Leif Eiriksson`s pregnant sister, Frøydis Eirikssdatter, who, with a naked chest, beat the flat side of her sword against her breasts when her settlement in Vinland (New Foundland) was attacked by the people living there before the Vikings came along, to scare the attackers away. It worked because the attackers were so frightened, or so the sagas say, that they jumped into their boats and rowed away.

In some battles women were giving the warriors fresh weapons and they would take care of the wounded more than fighting themselves but they could change a fight from being lost and making their men resume fighting when they were giving up by undressing so that everyone could see their naked breasts. Their warriors would get renewed strength and energy from seeing their women like that.

The most famous shieldmaidens were the Valkyries. The Valkyries were Odin`s shieldmaidens. Their task was to decide who was to live and who was to die in a battle and those who fought and died heroically would be carried away to Valhalla where they would be divided into two groups. One group would be delivered to Odin and the other to the goddess of war and death, Frøya.

I haven`t found anything about how the shieldmaidens lived or how their lives were outside the battles but my guess is they lived normal lives between the raids and wars. Male Vikings lived as farmers and traders when they weren`t swinging their axes and swords and there`s no reason why the shieldmaidens weren`t farmers and traders, wives and mothers when they weren`t off killing someone or protecting their villages from intruders.

Why did some women become shieldmaidens? The sagas suggest that some of them were daughters of chieftains who were too bored to be sitting around, learning how to weave. It seems entirely accepted that some daughters preferred to go riding and building strength instead of learning the more feminine virtues of keeping house.

Some women turned warriors in times of trouble. Not because they wanted to fight but because they had to. It seems both men and women learned basic fighting skills so that everyone could help in case they were attacked. The villages were too small to have half the people just sit around and wait for the other half to protect them.

**Being gay in the Viking age**

Vikings have often been looked upon as some kind of super-macho culture where all the men were dirty and had sex with women only.

I have no idea why washing one-self and being gay is perceived as un-macho by so many, but the fact is, the Vikings were both fairly clean (they washed themselves more often than their local neighbors on the British Islands, if one is to believe the complaint from a local guy who felt he couldn`t compete with the "overly clean" Vikings) and they did indeed have sex with members of their own sex.

There are very few accounts of women having sex with women and all women were expected to marry and have children. But it happened, especially in societies with few men.

Adam of Bremen (1040 – 1081), a storyteller who wrote down parts of the Nordic history (or at least his version of it), mentioned an island with only women that has later been located from his descriptions as being just on the outside of Estonia. These women would send away any man visiting them – or they would make him stay for sex so they could have children and then send him away. The Russian Primary Chronicle is said to have mentioned that island as well.

There are more accounts of men having sex with men and it seems to have been accepted and not particularly frowned upon – though the man being penetrated was usually looked down upon whereas the penetrator wasn`t (I have no idea why this would be public information). Men were also expected to marry and have children no matter what their sexual orientation was but as long as they did their duty, they could have sex with men if they wanted to.

The reason why everyone was expected to marry and have children (if they could) was because the villages depended on the children. They were the ones to grow up and provide for their elderly parents and since many children died before they grew up, everyone was expected to contribute – and contribute with large broods.

This was probably why it was more accepted if older people were gay. It seems older people could move in with their gay lovers if their wives died and they`d had children with her. So it wasn`t homosexuality that was frowned upon in itself but people choosing not to have children. This will be a topic in this story later on, by the way.

It seems Vikings were fairly open-minded towards gays and lesbians and it seems that men were not perceived as less masculine just because they had had sex with other men. But I also want to point out that various words for being gay were perceived as insults. Calling someone the Viking version of "faggot" would have that person draw his sword to defend his honor. Vikings may have accepted gay sex – or even enjoyed it – but woe and behold if anyone called them "gay" to their faces.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – Chapter 6**

I hope Fanfiction doesn`t die on us all what with all the problems the site has had these last couple of weeks (and Fanfiction is the reason why I didn`t post yesterday - I was all ready but Fanfiction wasn`t). I want to thank all of you for the nice reviews – and the tweets when fanfiction didn`t work.

I also want to thank **Suki59** for being my beta. This story just wouldn`t be the same (or exist at all) without her.

**Charlaine Harris** created the characters in this story and she owns them all. I just took them home with me and sent them to my favorite time in history.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Claude, Jason and I were already on Andre Beardless` longboat and so were Chow and Eric. The ship was ready to leave and we were only waiting for Andre Beardless finishing up his talks with Sam.

Sam Dogbreath and Andre Beardless had walked down to the beach together and I guessed they`d been discussing alliances and future battles while Jason, Claude and I had been packing. Claude was still insulted because I`d only thought of Jason when I`d been told I had to leave my village but he couldn`t hide how thrilled he was that he was now leaving for Queen Sophie-Anne`s court.

Most of the people from the village were gathered on the beach, shouting their good wishes to us. Tara stood there with JB, holding their baby. She waved to me whenever I looked at her but she didn`t shout anything.

Finally Andre Beardless climbed onto the boat and his crew got behind the oars. Eric and Chow were going to row too but Jason, Claude and I were situated on the benches at the back of the boat, next to Andre Beardless at the rudder.

Jason`s arm made its way around the small of my back and I leaned into him. I took a deep breath – the smell of my village and the sea mixing with the smell of Jason. It was home and I was bringing some of it with me.

"This is going to be fun, Sookie," he said and though I didn`t agree with him, his good mood was contagious. One could never be sad when Jason was near.

Jason and I stayed like that all the way out the fjord and when I saw Cold River, which marked the ending of the fjord and the beginning of the open sea, Jason suddenly started waving. I squinted my eyes and noticed a woman with blonde hair.

"Who`s that?" I asked. I knew everyone in that village but since most of the women were blonde, I couldn`t tell one from the other.

"It`s Crystal," he replied. There was something in his voice but when I turned to look at him he looked just like he always did when he had his eyes on a pretty woman.

"Crystal Purr?" I asked, her name referring to the sound she was said to make during sex. When I thought of her, I was happy I was known as Sookie the Shieldmaiden. I couldn`t imagine having a name originating from one`s conduct between the furs.

Jason nodded.

I didn`t know Crystal Purr very well but her uncle, Calvin the Broken Hand, had been a former lover of mine. And the main reason I only took lovers who lived far away from my village.

We`d known each other for years, of course, but it was that summer solstice a couple of years ago when we`d thought it a good idea to slip into the forest and get better acquainted.

Calvin had been … interesting but far from the best lover I`d ever had. And I certainly never meant for him to be more than a casual lover. But Calvin the Broken Hand had imagined himself in love with me and had insisted we get married.

He`d tried to get Jason and Claude on his side by offering them gifts but both of them had let him know that my marital choices were none of their business. And since Calvin hadn`t had enough leverage over Sam to get any help there, Calvin had finally left me alone.

Last I`d heard Calvin was married to a nice woman and they`d had a new child every autumn. Dark winters and all that.

When we were out in the open sea, the sails went up and the oars were pulled out of the water. I took a deep breath and decided I was going to look forward to my new life. I had Jason and Claude next to me and this was going to be another great adventure. We were going to fight honorable battles and eventually we would be able to go home to our own people again carrying riches that would support the whole village.

My eyes found Eric the Northman`s back. His long hair was blowing in the wind and his shoulders seemed even broader than I thought they were.

_That is my husband_, I said to myself but it felt like a joke. I smiled to myself, not wanting to ruin my new light mood. _I have a handsome husband, a fierce warrior, a man any woman would welcome to her bed_. And then I huffed at the absurdity of my being married to someone I hardly knew.

"What was that, Sookie?" Jason asked.

"Just trying to make sense of it all." I shrugged but my eyes were still on Eric.

Jason may not be the smartest of men but he had great intuition. He followed my gaze.

"He`s not the worst man you could pick," he said.

"I never picked him," I pointed out.

"Then the gods picked him for you. They killed almost everyone else on that ship and since Chow doesn`t seem to be the one you`re staring at, Eric must be the man who`s meant for you."

"I hope so, Jason, because it seems I`m stuck with him whether I want him or not."

"Oh, you want him."

My ever impolite cousin leaned over Jason and as usual he made an unwelcome remark.

"You are mixing up your own emotions with mine, Claude. I may find his looks agreeable but the man …." I paused. I wanted to say that he annoyed me. That he thought too much of himself. That he just looked at me as another skirt to be conquered. But I didn`t. "I don`t know him."

Jason`s arm hugged me closer. "I`ll look after you, Sookie. And when you have kids, I`ll make a wonderful uncle."

I pulled away. "Kids?"

Jason smiled and Claude laughed.

After two nights on the ship – two nights where Eric the Northman found it natural to lay next to me when we slept – we finally saw land on the second morning.

"Land!" a voice shouted and very quickly the longboat, where almost everyone had been asleep, was full of activities.

Eric the Northman settled down next to me when we`d both finished our morning rituals. Jason and Claude were close by but their attention was glued to the strange lands we sailed by.

"It`s beautiful, isn`t it?" Eric asked, his voice laced with pride.

"It`s different." I didn`t like the flatlands much but I didn`t want to insult him. You never spoke poorly of people`s children, swords or their homelands unless you deliberately wanted to pitch a fight.

I`d been to the flatlands before – most of our commercial activities took place in the larger cities there – but it had been some time since I`d last visited Nordby. The old king was alive when I was here last and there were no wars between family members.

The old king`s brother, Felipe the Elegant, had lost the first battles and the old king`s daughter, Sophie-Anne the Young, had declared herself queen of all the flatlands. Felipe the Elegant had fled across the oceans where he was trying to gather armies to take his late brother`s lands.

Luckily we lived too far to the north to be of any consequence to either fighting party up until Sam Dogbreath had decided to join Queen Sophie-Anne`s forces this summer.

Claude, Jason and I had listened to the tales from the south whenever a ship came in with news but we`d always found it a testament to the bad characters of both Felipe the Elegant and Queen Sophie-Anne that they were fighting their own kin.

Family was something you protected – not something you went to war against.

I looked towards land and the lack of mountains unsettled me. The flatlands were … flat. No majestic hills or towering cliffs. No deep fjords, splashing falls or wide rivers. Just flat land and tiny creeks.

And this was where I was supposed to live. At least for the time being.

"Yes, I suppose it is very different for you." Eric looked as if he were giving it some thought. "But I promise you that you won`t regret this."

I wanted to ask him how I could regret something that was never my choice and also how he could make a promise like that but I kept my mouth shut and hoped he was right.

After having slept next to him and having his arm wrapped around me, I`d become accustomed to that particular smell that was Eric. It was different from Jason`s and Claude`s and wasn`t bad at all. Somehow it was soothing, at least now that I was on my way to set foot in his country as his wife … of sorts.

"There`s Nordby." Eric pointed at something in the distance. The only thing I could see that suggested there was a town there was the smoke coming up from all the little fires the people of Nordby had made to cook their breakfasts and heat their houses.

I nodded and squinted my eyes. Out there in the distance was my future. My new life as one of Queen Sophie-Anne`s warriors. And Eric`s wife.

"Eric!" A blond woman threw herself into Eric`s arms and he lifted her up and whirled her around. "I thought you were dead," she squealed. Eric had jumped off the boat when he saw the woman on the beach.

Jason, Claude and I grabbed our things and jumped down onto the beach as well. I tried not to stare at the woman who was hugging Eric but found it hard not look at her. She was very pretty. Older than I was but the years had been kind to her.

I was about to walk towards the city of Nordby when Eric noticed me and stopped me.

"This is my wife, Pamela," he said, while waving for me to come closer.

The woman stared at me and for a short moment I wondered if there were something wrong with me.

"Your wife? You got married?" Then she looked at me. "How did you manage to get my brother to marry you? I know plenty of women who would like to know the secret."

Ah, she was Eric`s sister, not his mistress. I smiled.

"But your manners are still as bad as they used to be, Eric. Introduce us, please." She slapped Eric`s shoulder and he took a step forward.

"This is my wife, Sookie, her brother, Jason, and her cousin, Claude." Eric gestured towards us. Then he looked at his sister. "Sookie is a shieldmaiden. Just like you."

"You`re Sookie the Shieldmaiden?" she asked and her smile got broader. "You have quite the reputation."

"I am." Then the mentioning of her name and her occupation clicked together in my head. "Are you Pamela Milkmaid?" I asked. Pamela Milkmaid was one of the most renowned shieldmaidens and my personal heroine.

Eric laughed. "She hates being called Milkmaid."

Pamela gave him a wry look. "Why couldn`t they call me Pamela the Fierce or Pamela the Bloody? No, they had to make a joke out of the way I look."

I wanted to tell her she was very beautiful in a wholesome way but figured she wouldn`t like it.

"I`m sorry," I said. "It was just … you were one of the reasons I wanted to become a shieldmaiden in the first place. We heard all about the battles you won."

Jason and Claude nodded, clearly impressed with having met Pamela Milkmaid in person.

"They probably exaggerated," she said with a shrug. "And I lost in the end." She held up her right hand – a hand that only had two fingers. Her thumb and her index finger.

Two kids came running and threw themselves at Eric.

"Uncle Eric!" they shouted and he lifted them up and swung them around like he`d done with his sister. They were probably around two and three, both of them as blond as Eric and Pamela and both of them with red cheeks and stars in their eyes.

I looked at the children but it was Jason who said to Pamela what I was thinking. "So you`ve stopped fighting?"

"Losing a couple of fingers and having children is a pretty effective end to any hopes of joining the battles."

I wasn`t sure if I thought Pamela sounded bitter. It might have been my projecting how I would have felt or she might have actually resented her fate. I wasn`t sure.

I was just about to ask her if she`d lost her fingers before or after she`d had her children when she turned towards Eric.

"You should stop before they throw up on you, Eric," Pamela said while pulling her children away from him. Then she turned back towards me. "Are you planning on continuing being a shieldmaiden?"

I nodded. "Yes, of course."

I was here to fight for Queen Sophie-Anne, wasn`t I? Yes, I was somehow pretend-married to Pamela`s good looking but oh so annoying brother, but I was fairly sure the Queen hadn`t requested my presence so that I could sit in Eric`s longhouse and look pretty.

"Then you`d better be careful, Eric." Pamela gave Eric a pointed stare.

"Don`t worry, Pamela. I`ll look after Sookie when we`re in battle. She won`t get hurt."

I`m not sure if it was me or Pamela who snorted the loudest but Pamela was quicker to comment on his statement.

"I`m sure Sookie can look after herself in a fight. It`s what you do to her between the furs I`m worried about. She won`t be fighting much with a big belly or a kid in her arms."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I hope you liked this chapter. You missed Pamela Milkmaid *ehem* Pamela the Fierce, didn`t you?

**Marriage in the Viking Age**

I`ve had a few questions about marriage in the Viking Age and will try to give you some answers. The problem is – we don`t know much about marriage between common people in the Viking age. There has been quite a few mentions of marriage between royal people and people of power and wealth in the sagas but not between the common warriors, farmers and tradespeople.

First of all, common law marriage – or moving in together and considering oneself married – seems to have been fairly common. Sharing the bed seems to have been the cornerstone of the marriage – both when entering into it and when getting a divorce. One stood by the bed and in front of witnesses one said three times that one was divorced and that was it.

Common law marriages were probably fairly common and even after the Viking Age – in spite of the church doing its best to outlaw it. This didn`t happen until approximately the 13th century where there were laws against common law marriages.

On a side-note, marriage between cousins weren`t outlawed until then either.

One of the main reasons for getting married – or living in an acknowledged common law marriage – was to secure the future of the children. A child born by an unwed mother without the father acknowledging that child only had her and her family to help support it. If the mother of the child was married the child would also have the help and support from the father of the child and his family.

There was some stigma in being an unwed mother but not if she`d been raped or seduced. In those cases the man was blamed and punished.

Men sometimes had more than one wife. Kings were reported to have had wives in all the countries they wanted alliances with – often daughters of the local kings there. But also common men had more than one woman in his life. Usually one of them would be his wife with all the rights that title gave her. The wife was the one to carry the keys to the family fortunes and also the one to make decisions about everything they owned. Men could have mistresses who would also live in his house and he could buy as many bed-slaves as he could afford.

The mistresses would be lower class women who would gain financially from moving into the richer man`s household but who would never be a threat to the wife since the man could never marry her, low born as she was. The bed-slave was, of course, even less of a threat to the wife and had even fewer rights than the mistress.

I have also seen accounts of women having more than one husband but I`m not sure how common that was.

Marriage between the kings and queens was often about forming alliances or as the result of a peace settlement. Two countries that had been at war with one another would often find a prince and a princess who could marry each other as part of the peace settlements.

Most of the marriages described in the sources we have are marriages between rich and powerful people so I`m not, as I mentioned earlier on, sure about the rules among common people. Among the rich and powerful marriage was something negotiated between the men in the two families. Usually the man and the woman in question were asked and in most cases their wishes were taken into account because a marriage against the bride`s will could very often turn ugly – ending in the death of the groom, as one of the sagas claimed. And there was always divorce. If the bride did not like the groom after they`d been married, she could always leave him. This was a fate most fathers would try to avoid for their sons and daughters.

In some cases the bride chose her own husband. If she didn`t have a father and her brothers either couldn`t agree on a husband or they turned down all her suitors because they wanted to keep her on their farm then she was allowed to find her own husband and the men in her family couldn`t object to it.

There was marriage for love too. Or for passion. Both the sagas and the poems tell us of great passions between Vikings – passions that lead to the two lovers marrying each other. And, Vikings being Vikings, they usually end up dying together too, which seems to be the ultimate declaration of love.

Marriages were usually something that happened fairly quickly after the young man and woman first set eyes on each other. If the young man courted a woman for too long without proposing or offering her his home, her family might kill him to restore her honor.

A man was expected to have a certain amount of money or fortune before he asked a woman to marry him. The idea was that if he didn`t have any money then he couldn`t support his children and had no business getting any. Some historians claim this rule was the main reason for the Vikings attacking foreign lands in the first place. It was all the men who wanted a wife but needed the money to get her who went abroad and stole whatever they could lay their hands on.

Some of the money paid by the groom went to the bride`s family and some of it to the bride. The bride also got money from her family and this was not to be touched by the groom. It was meant to support her and her children if she should become a widow.

Most weddings were held on Fridays – or Frigga`s Day – to honor the god of marriage. We don`t know all the details about the pre-Christian weddings and what we do know, I`ll leave for a later chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – chapter 7**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for all your comments and reviews. I love getting them!

I also want to thank **Suki59** for being such an outstanding beta and for all our discussions about fanfiction and romance.

**Charlaine Harris** owns every character in this story. If they`d been mine, they would all have had a sword – not just Eric. Maybe there would have been more "bowling for vampires" :-)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

It wasn`t Eric but Pamela who ended up showing us around in Nordby. Eric went to see the families of the men who`d been killed in the battle or drowned on the way home, which I found admirable. It couldn`t be easy to meet grieving widows, parents and children but I knew it had to be done.

I remembered how torn Sam had been every time we came home, thrilled over the battles we`d won and the loot we were bringing home but for Sam there was also the rounds he`d had to make to the families of those who didn`t return.

We all knew that each raid could be the last one but none of us really believed it.

"Eric will take you to meet Queen Sophie-Anne later," Pamela explained while trying to hold onto two children who were both behaving like a barrel of ants.

She`d taken me to the marked, the blacksmith and showed me where we could wash ourselves. Now we were walking towards the house she was sharing with her brother.

"Do you want me to carry one of them?" I asked though I had never been very good with children. It was just that Pamela seemed to need the help and it would be a cold day in Hekla before Jason or Claude volunteered.

Pam pulled one kid away from her neck and into my arms and I looked into a couple of blue eyes that resembled those of the kid`s uncle.

"So what is your name?" I asked but my accent made him pull back and I saw a wail coming up.

"This is auntie Sookie, Quinn. Behave yourself." Pamela`s voice wasn`t strict and the upcoming cry turning into a shy smile.

"Aren`t you a cutie?" I tried but apparently one didn`t call little boys "cutie" because he stuck his lower lip out in protest. I tried a different angle. "Are you a fierce warrior?" I asked and the little boy nodded.

"I am too," the little girl in Pamela`s arms said.

"This is Frannie," Pamela explained.

"Do you want me to teach you some tricks with the sword?" I asked both kids, before I had thought it through. But I figured I was supposed to stay here for a while so I might as well get along with people. That included the children.

If the kids had been like ants before they were like a pit of snakes now, cheering over my offer, so when Pamela put Frannie down, I did the same with Quinn.

Claude sighed loudly when the kids ran ahead of us towards what I assumed was Eric and Pamela`s house and I remembered how Claude wasn`t particularly fond of children. Or, at least that was what he kept telling people – to Gran`s shock and outrage.

Gran had been fine with Claude preferring male company to female but saying no to children was something she had never accepted. "You will find a nice girl who doesn`t mind not sharing your bed every night," she`d repeatedly declared. A declaration that had always made Claude shrug.

I knew the truth behind Claude stating that he didn`t want children, of course, and it had nothing to do with his preference for men.

Poor Gran had never hidden the fact that she wanted great-grandchildren and all she got was a grandson who preferred men, another grandson who loved women but never enough to settle down with one of them and a granddaughter who loved her sword more than she would ever care for any man.

"They are cute," I told Pamela while nodding at her children. I wasn`t sure if she`d heard Claude`s sigh but I wanted to make up for it.

"They are a handful," she replied. "Just like Eric and I were."

"Sounds like Sookie and me," Jason commented and Claude went from sighing to snorting.

"And Claude, of course," I added.

The kids ran into a house and Pamela motioned for us to follow them inside. I went in after Pamela and took a quick look around. This longhouse was slightly different from ours – the walls seemed less solid and the smoke-hole in the roof was larger. But the beds along the walls, the large table and the benches surrounding it were just like ours.

"That`s Eric`s bed, so I suppose it`ll be yours as well, Sookie." She pointed at one of the beds. "The kids and I are sharing that bed." She pointed at another one. "And I suppose you two can share the bed we use for guests."

I was surprised to see another house with just three beds. Did Eric, Pamela and her children live all alone?

I realized I didn`t know much about Eric. I`d assumed he had parents and possibly more siblings. And what about the children`s father? I didn`t want to ask but Claude was less sensitive than I was.

"Where is your husband?" he asked.

Pamela was quiet a few moments then she said, "He`s dead."

There was absolutely nothing in Pamela`s reply that invited follow-up questions but Claude was on a roll. "Why didn`t you remarry?"

Pam stared at him. If she were trying to kill him by looking at him, I could inform her that it was impossible. I`d tried. Many times.

"I don`t particularly care for men," she said and that was the hardest verbal slap I`d ever heard. I blushed on behalf of Claude but he carried on.

"That was what I thought. I`m not too fond of women."

That made Pamela smile and the change was extreme. She went from Pamela the Bloody to Pamela Milkmaid in the wink of an eye.

"How about Sookie?" Pamela asked Claude.

I was about to tell her I was standing right there and could give her a full statement on which people I did and did not like to share my furs with but Claude beat me to it.

"Sookie? No, Sookie doesn`t like anyone. Not like that, at least."

Pamela laughed as if it were some kind of inside joke I didn`t get. Jason looked at me for explanations but I just shrugged.

I was about to suggest we take a look at some more of Nordby when a big kid opened the door and came inside. He was struggling to catch his breath.

"Eric has asked everyone to come to the Gods` house," he said. "He is offering atonement." Then he ran out and I could hear him shout the news to someone just outside.

I frowned and looked at Pamela. "Atonement?"

Without saying anything Pamela grabbed each of her kids by the hand and walked out. Jason, Claude and I followed.

The Gods` house was in the outskirts of Nordby, close to a forest. It was a large house made from tar-clad timber. We hurried inside along with the other people – what seemed like everyone else living in Nordby. Pamela pulled Frannie up to sit on her hip and I did the same to Quinn.

At first I found it hard to see anything and I waited for my eyes to adjust to the lack of sunlight. It was dark in the Gods` house apart from the light from the fireplace at the other end from where we were standing.

Eric stood next to the fire, naked from his waist up. He looked at all the people pushing each other to get inside but he didn`t seem to notice any of them. His arms were hanging down by his sides and he was breathing heavily. I saw his lips move as in some kind of silent prayer but that was the only movement apart from his chest going up and down.

When it seemed everyone was there – or maybe the Gods` house was too full to let anyone else enter – Eric closed his eyes for a few moments, took a deep breath, and opened them again.

"I am back from the battle and I brought Chow with me. But as you all know, I lost many good men to the sea." Eric`s voice came through very clearly but when he paused there was a murmur in his audience. "I have brought grief to their families and I want to atone for that." Eric picked up what looked like a branch with no leaves from the floor. "I want a representative for everyone who has lost a man on my boat to step forward." Eric paused again while men and women, some old and some around Eric`s age, walked up next to him. "I invite you to strike me and to put all your grief and anger onto my back."

And with that, Eric turned around, got down on his knees and leaned into a large rock next to the fireplace.

Some of the people who`d stepped forward shook their heads and I heard a man say "no" but Eric stayed where he was until a young woman grabbed the stick and turned towards the crowd.

"I do not blame Eric the Northman for the death of my husband, Clancy," she said. "But I respect his wishes for atonement and I shall give him that."

The light from the fireplace glimmered in the tear that rolled down her cheek when she went to Eric. Slowly she raised the stick and then she struck Eric`s back.

"I have stricken you with this stick, Eric. All anger concerning Clancy`s death is in that wound on your back. You shall never be blamed for it."

I cringed inside even if she hadn`t hit him as hard as she could have. We had our own traditions of atonements, of course, but I`d never before seen so many being invited to the atonement of one man. It was too much. Too harsh.

"It wasn`t Eric`s fault," I whispered to Pamela. "The storm was sudden. We were lucky to survive it."

Pamela nodded. "Eric needs this."

Other people came forward, grabbed the stick, made a little speech, hit Eric and then told him that all anger concerning their family member`s untimely death was in that wound on his back. Some hit him harder than others, some cried and some had faces like stone, but all of them seemed relieved after having hit Eric.

When a representative for each of the men who had lost their lives had hit Eric, a small woman stepped forward. Even if her clothes and jewelry hadn`t spoken their own truth about her, the woman`s youth and the way she held her head high in spite of her small size made me realize that this was Queen Sophie-Anne.

"It is honorable of you to make atonement, Eric, when really we should be blaming whomever blew up the storms and made the waves. I respect your decision and will remind you that I also lost greatly on that boat. I did not lose a father or a son. I did not lose a husband or a brother. But I lost many fine men who could have fought wars in the years to come. So I will strike you one time for each man I`ve lost."

A collective gasp went through the crowd and I found myself holding my hand in front of my mouth. Eric would be stricken one more time for each man that was dead?

I could see the muscles on Eric`s back tighten and then he relaxed.

"I am ready," he said in a loud voice. "I ask for atonement from you as well, My Queen."

And with that Queen Sophie-Anne raised the stick and hit Eric one time for each of the men that had drowned going home from battle. She didn`t hit unnecessarily hard but she still left marks on Eric. His back had pink welts from his shoulders to his hips and blood ran down in thin streams.

She looked composed while hitting him. I could see no anger and no remorse. She was hitting him because she thought this was the correct thing to do.

When she`d finished hitting Eric, she handed the stick to Andre Beardless and walked over to stand next to Eric.

"You may rise now, Eric, and receive atonement from everyone here."

She held out her hand and he grabbed it and got up. He staggered a bit but managed to do so without leaning too much on the queen. Then he turned around and looked at the crowd. He took a deep breath and nodded.

It was obvious that people were impressed or at least appreciated what he`d done. There were cheers and shouts and then people started moving to get out of the building. Queen Sophie-Anne let go of Eric`s hand and exited the Gods` house with everyone else.

Eric stood there, watching, but I could see he was in bad shape so I handed Quinn over to a surprised Claude and dug my way through the crowd to Eric.

I didn`t want to help him until everyone had left the Gods` house – it was important for him to show strength now – but I stood close by just in case he lost his footing and needed support.

When the building was empty, apart from Eric and me, I walked closer, grabbed his arm and pulled it over my shoulder and then I forced him to lean into me.

Eric groaned when we started walking and I tried not to touch his back with the arm I had around him. That left his hips and I had a firm grip there.

I wanted to tell him how impressed I was but the words got stuck in my mouth. I tried several times on our walk back to his house and finally, when I saw Pamela waiting at the door to her and Eric`s house, I managed to open my mouth.

"You did good, Eric," I said.

I wasn`t sure if he`d heard me so I looked up into his face.

His eyes were closed but he smiled.

I smiled too.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Vikings and honor**

I have no idea if the Vikings would do what Eric did in this chapter but I know that atonement was important to them because it`s so closely linked to honor – which was the root of their existence. Without honor – no life.

An example of how important honor was is the story about the Vikings who sailed up to a rich man`s house in the dead of night. They tip-toed their way into the house while the rich man was away and they stole all his gold and silver.

On their way out from the raid the Vikings stopped and looked at each other, full of shame. Only men without honor would raid a house without making their presence known. Only a thief would do that and these men were no thieves – they were honorable raiders.

So they went back to the man`s house and set fire to it so that no one could say they were without honor.

Honor wasn`t just important to the Vikings. Many people both before and after the Vikings have valued honor very highly. I read somewhere that in the beginning of the 19th century almost 40 percent of the young men of the English nobility were killed in duels, defending their – or someone else`s – honor.

It was the same with the Vikings. I`ve read complaints from Iceland where whole villages were without men. Not because the sons and husbands were out raiding or bringing back fortunes but because they were out challenging each other to various dangerous games that would have been dishonorable not to participate in. Games that killed so many of them.

These games could be jumping from one cliff to the next – jumps that were deadly if one lost one`s footing or couldn`t jump far enough. Or they could be running on oars which was a game where men would hold up the oars on a boat and the men competing would jump from one slippery oar to the next.

And, of course, they would challenge each other into battles. One could always find some insult that one needed to settle with one`s swords or ax. Maybe someone`s grandfather had called one`s grandmother a bad name some fifty years ago.

**fffbone** asked me if family was important to the Vikings and it was. Family was closely linked to honor and one would defend the honor of one`s family with one`s life – even if one had a falling out with the family.

The strange thing, though, was how friends often were more important than family. A man you`d been to battle with and maybe been on the same boat with for years would be closer to your heart than a family member you hadn`t seen in a long time. And you would defend his honor with your life.

Your brother could become your enemy when your parents died and you were to divide their land between you but your weapon-brother would always be there for you and therefor you would always be there for him as well.

There are several tales about Vikings who`ve chosen their friends before their family and by that they live up to the more modern phrase "You choose your friends – not your family."


	8. Chapter 8

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – chapter 8**

**A/N:**

Arrgh to Fanfiction_dot_net. Several of you complained that you never got the any notice about my last chapter and some of you couldn`t review it. I`m very grateful for your PMs and tweets on the matter though the problems annoyed me to no end.

I will try to post a chapter to this story every Sunday (or Monday) so if Fanfiction_dot_net acts up again, check out the story next Sunday and there may be a chapter waiting for you.

I want to thank **Suki59** for all her great betaing and encouragements.

I don`t own Eric and Sookie. **Charlaine Harris** does. If they`d been mine they would have had swords and said their prayers to Odin, Thor and Freya.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

The next couple of nights I slept in Jason`s and Claude`s bed, not wanting to accidentally hurt Eric by touching his back in my sleep. During the day I made sure Eric had enough to eat and drink and I carefully rubbed the ointments Pam had made into his wounds to make them heel faster.

Claude volunteered to help him whenever he needed to pee – walking him to the place close to the forest where everyone went.

On the fourth day, Eric`s wounds looked better and he seemed to have some of his old energy back –if one was to judge from that wolfy grin he sported when I entered the house after an afternoon of sparring with Jason and Claude. I`d been down by the river and had washed myself after the practice but my clothes were dirty and wet from a combination of sweat and river water and my hair was in a very messy braid. In short, I was not in a state to cause any kind of horny looks.

Eric had probably been in his bed for too long and was bored.

Jason had decided to go check out Nordby which translated into checking out anyone who would let him have sex with her. Claude came back with me and was currently brooding on his bed.

I walked over to Eric, told him to turn to lie on his stomach and then I started spreading the ointment on his back. When I was done, I pulled back and looked at him lying there. Eric was handsome and even if I wanted to, I couldn't deny that fact.

I hadn`t been attracted to anyone in a long time and Eric was the wrong place to start. He was too handsome. I`d seen what being handsome had done to Jason – and Claude for that matter – so I avoided men with great looks. Unless it was just for one night and even the one-night lovers had been sparse the last couple of years. Or non-existing.

Eric was definitely not a one-night lover and therefor he wasn`t a lover at all. Eric had heartbreak written all over him and I liked my heart non-broken, thank you very much.

"Come lie next to me, my wife," Eric said in a low voice.

"I`m not your wife."

"Come lie next to me," he repeated as if he hadn`t heard what I said.

I was just about to get up and walk out when the door opened. Before I could turn to see who was entering, Eric scrambled to get up.

A quick glance over my shoulder made me straighten up too and then I helped Eric who was off balance from trying to get out of his bed too quickly.

"My Queen," Eric said and nodded.

"Eric," she responded. Andre Beardless was with her and so was another man. A dark haired man who, in stark contrast to Andre Beardless, smiled. He was one of those people you couldn`t help liking because of his very simple facial expression of making his lips curl upwards. "You were to come and introduce me to your new wife but I understand you`ve been indisposed. I hope you will be better soon."

She may have hoped Eric would be better but she sounded indifferent.

"I am much better already."

The queen looked from me to Eric and back at me, waiting for Eric to continue talking.

"This is Sookie the Shieldmaiden," Eric said. "And this is Queen Sophie-Anne." Eric looked at the other two men. "Andre Beardless you already know, and this is Rasul the Friendly." Eric made a gesture to the dark haired man with the heartwarming smile. I could certainly see how he`d won his name.

I wasn`t sure how to greet royalty so I made an awkward curtsy. Queen Sophie-Anne gave me a nod.

"I am pleased to have you among my warriors, Sookie," she said. "I pride myself with having shieldmaidens in my army and I hear you are an even better sword fighter than Pamela. Your skills will become very important soon. When I use you on the battlefield, my uncle will learn a valuable lesson."

Since I wasn`t sure what she was referring to I just nodded.

"Felipe claims women can`t fight or rule." It was Eric who came to my rescue and explained the situation. "Pamela has taken down more of his warriors than anyone else, thus proved him wrong on several occasions. Felipe doesn`t appreciate that."

"Which is why I try to keep sending shieldmaidens his way." A small smile touched Queen Sophie-Anne`s lips but disappeared quickly again. "I should like to see you follow in your sister-in-law`s footsteps" Queen Sophie-Anne continued. "I enjoy having my uncle ridiculed. I shall enjoy it even more to see him dead."

I knew the queen was my age but she looked years younger. Her eyes, though, were old. I figured ruling a country would do that to a person.

"I shall do my best." I curtsied again, cursing myself for my lack of knowledge about the proper way to address a queen and then reminding myself that I wasn`t her subject. Or was I – through this pretend marriage to Eric? Or by being her warrior?

"I will look forward to it. This last raid of ours has brought Felipe close to a breaking point. He is losing support and knows he has to kill me soon or he will find himself a head shorter. His men will slit his throat before I do if he doesn`t find a way to get me off the throne. With you fighting for me, Sookie, he will be one step closer to dying. My uncle`s days are numbered and I should love to take a bath in his blood."

I enjoyed a good fight and never minded the blood pouring over me when I had slashed someone`s artery. But I never talked about the pleasure of killing. Especially not the killing of family members. But what did I know about being a queen and the ruthlessness it took?

After stressing again how much she looked forward to using me in some elaborate plan to kill her uncle, Queen Sophie-Anne and her retinue left Eric`s house and Eric sat down on the bed.

"I need to get back in fighting shape," he said and slid his hand through his hair.

The door opened again and Pam and her kids entered, carrying what smelled like food. She looked at Eric and me and then she gave Claude who was still lying on his bed in the far corner of the house a nod. It wasn`t until now I realized he had been in the room all along and neither Eric nor I had introduced him to the queen. I guess I had been too busy curtsying.

"Will you help me get dinner ready, Claude?" she asked.

Claude grunted something but got up and started helping Pamela. I went over there to help out too and soon we had bread and meat on the table and mead in our cups. Eric came over to sit down next to me, Claude sat down next to Pamela and we all dug in. Now that food was gliding down my throat, I realized just how hungry I`d been. After all, Jason, Claude and I had been sparring all day.

I thought of Jason but figured he was fed somewhere else. Or at least he was sated somehow.

Pamela`s children were excited and couldn`t stop talking. Claude was frowning but I couldn`t help smiling at the children. You would have to have a heart made out of rock – or be named Claude – to not be charmed by Quinn and Frannie.

When we`d eaten, the children started begging their mother to tell them a story.

"Which one do you want?" Pamela asked.

"We want to hear the one about Odin learning how to read the runes," Quinn yelled before his sister could come up with a different suggestion.

Pamela started telling the children about Odin being tormented and almost killed and then hanging from the mighty tree of Yggdrasil for nine nights.

"And when he woke up after the ninth night, Hel, the mistress of the kingdom of Death taught him the secrets of the runes. He learned the magic of reading them," she finished. Pamela leaned back after having told her story.

Pamela was a good storyteller. The story of Odin and the runes was slightly different from how we told it back home but it was still a story that took my breath away – just like runes did. One could almost feel the magic coming out from them and one would have to have special powers to understand them – just like Amelia the Witch did back home.

"I have another story of runes and magic." Claude had been silent for some time but now he spoke up.

I smiled. Claude was an amazing storyteller and though I`d heard his stories plenty of times I looked forward to hearing one of them again.

"Go on, then!" Frannie yelled.

Pamela smiled, first at Frannie and then to Claude. "Yes, go on, then," she said.

"A wanderer came to a village," he started and I knew which story this was. "The village was struck with grief because the daughter of the chieftain was sick. She was on her deathbed."

Both Quinn and Frannie looked at Claude with huge, round eyes. "Was she pretty?" Frannie asked.

"Oh, she was very pretty. Every young man in the village was in love with her but none more than that young man who sat outside her house and cried."

"He cried?" Quinn asked, apparently stunned that this could happen to a grown up.

"He was devastated," Claude continued. "And soon the wanderer found out why."

"Why?" Frannie whispered.

"The man who was crying was the reason why the girl was sick. The wanderer found a whale bone with a rune inscription in the girl`s bed and as you know, the runes are magical. This magic had turned the girl sick and would have killed her if the wanderer hadn`t found it."

"Who had put the runes in her bed?" Frannie held her breath, waiting for the answer. Actually we all did – even I and I had heard the story before.

"The man who was crying," Claude said in a low voice.

Frannie gasped and her eyes were huge. "Why did he want to kill the girl?" Frannie asked. "I thought he loved her?"

"He did, but she didn`t love him."

"Did he try to kill her because she didn`t love him?" Now it was Pamela`s turn to ask.

"No, he really did love her and he didn`t want her dead. But he was not very good with the magic runes. He thought he had made runes compelling her to love him back but he had gotten them wrong. Runes are very easy to mix up, you know." Claude looked at the kids.

Both children nodded.

"The young man wasn`t patient. He didn`t want to wait for the girl to love him back. Instead he was rushing her. And he could have killed her. Runes are very dangerous."

The children nodded again.

"What happened to the young man?" Quinn asked.

"He died from grief," Claude said in a low voice.

"Why? I thought the girl he loved survived." Frannie leaned over the table to get closer to Claude.

"The girl survived but she could never love a man who couldn`t wait for her love to come naturally."

I`d been looking at the children throughout Claude`s storytelling but something made me turn my head in his direction. Claude was staring at Eric.

"Love can never be rushed," Claude said with a nod.

And with that Claude leaned back and smiled one of his rare smiles. Eric looked at him but I couldn`t read his expression.

Pamela started getting the children ready for bed and I went outside. I needed to wash and get ready for the night too so I went down to the stream and washed my face, neck and arms.

When I came back, Pam and her children were in bed but both Claude and Eric were gone.

"Claude is helping Eric get ready for bed," Pamela explained when she saw me staring at Eric`s empty bed.

I walked over to the bed I was sharing with Claude and Jason and pulled the covers back. I got under the all the furs and blankets and stretched out – exhausted after the day`s exercise. I was half asleep when Claude crawled under the covers with me.

A giggle woke me up hours later. I was trying to fall asleep again when Jason whispered – as much as a drunken man can whisper – into my ear. "Could I have the bed? I want to …"

Then I heard the giggle again. Jason had met a girl and instead of taking her to the woods or down to the beach, he`d decided to take her back to Eric`s house so that he could kick both his sister and his cousin out of the bed where they were so deeply asleep.

"Jason," I groaned, hoping he would go away in shame. Of course, Jason didn`t know the concept and pulled back our covers to make us leave.

"You can sleep here, Claude," Pamela whispered from the other side of the room.

Why had she asked Claude and not me? I knew the answer, of course. Pamela saw me as Eric`s wife – or at least Eric`s _something._ I sighed and got up. Then I walked over to Eric`s bed and got in, hoping Eric wouldn`t pay too much attention to suddenly having a bedmate again. Soon I was fast asleep again and just before I fell asleep I felt Eric`s arm around my waist.

Eric`s hand wasn`t on my waist or stomach when I woke up in the morning. It was on my left breast. I could hear from his even breathing that he was still asleep so instead of telling him to move his hand – something I probably wouldn`t have done anyway since I was a doer, not a talker – I got out of bed and went outside to wash myself and to pee.

When I came back inside Eric was awake and lifted the furs and blankets to invite me back into bed. As tempting as the warm furs were, lying down with Eric was not. Especially not with him grinning the way he was. The waggling eyebrows were also a warning sign. So I got dressed instead.

I looked around and saw Jason snoring alone in his bed. Apparently the woman he`d thrown all of his immediate family out of bed for wasn`t the type to stay and say hello to his sister. Which was fine by me. I`d greeted too many women with high hopes of being "the one" in Jason`s life. They would always try and befriend me – their future sister-in-law. And when Jason eventually broke their hearts, most of them blamed me. As if I had any control over Jason`s love life. I was more than busy enough trying to keep him alive.

A discreet glance at Pamela`s bed landed me a bigger surprise. Pamela was in the middle of the bed, sleeping on her side with her arm around her children. But what had me looking closer was Claude, who was curled up behind her, and the hand he had around her waist. There was nothing sexual about it, of course, but there was a tenderness I`d never seen in Claude before.

I shrugged and started a fire so that I could cook the porridge we were having for breakfast. I was so busy trying to make the little glows of fire lighten up that I didn`t notice Eric standing next to me. What was it with Eric and his ways of surprising me?

"I need your help today, Sookie," he said in a low voice.

I nodded slowly without looking at him.

"I need to get out. I need to work on my fighting skills," he explained.

I nodded again. "I was planning on training after breakfast," I said. "You could come with me."

I preferred training with Jason but that was mainly because I wanted Jason to be in the best shape he could be in. It would be good for me to work out with someone else. Someone with different moves and skills.

Plus I wasn`t saying no to beating Eric again. He was healed enough for me to stop nursing him. Now was the time to start knocking him down.

It would be good for him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

I hope you got your alerts for this chapter – and that you liked it, of course.

**The Nordic Gods**

First of all – their name. I prefer referring to them as Nordic gods like I refer to Zeus and Athene as Greek gods and Mars and Venus as Roman gods. I know it`s common to refer to them as Åsatro (which means Åsa belief) but around here that`s mainly used for people who believe in Odin and Thor today. And I could write chapters, most of them very sad, on how the Nordic gods have been used and misused these last 100 years.

We refer to the old gods as Norrøne, which can be translated as Norse, but I`ll go with Nordic. Easier on the tongue to say Nordic gods instead of Norse gods. Not that I`m actually talking to you right now...

As I`ve said earlier, the Vikings didn`t write much down. They were a society of story-tellers and the stories of the gods were some of the most popular stories told on those long, dark winter evenings – and on the sunny summer nights..

I`m sure most of you have heard the names of some of the Nordic gods before but I`ll give you a run-through of some of them anyway. But first I have to say that to understand the Nordic gods, you need to put aside all thoughts of gods always being right, just or kind. The Nordic gods had human traits and human flaws and sometimes those flaws were so serious it would cost the lives of other gods.

**Odin**: He was the most powerful and wisest of all the gods. He ruled Valhalla and was married to **Frigg** – the most powerful female god. He got his wisdom from sacrificing one of his eyes to be allowed to drink from the Well of Knowledge. He did it because he needed to understand the world he`d created. His two ravens **Hugin** and **Munin** saw everything that went on in the world of humans. Odin had his own shieldmaidens – the **Valkyries**. They would search every battle for courageous men and would bring them to Odin who would throw them a party like only a god could.

Even if Odin was married to Frigg, he had children with other women too. **Thor** was the son of Odin and **Fjorgyn**. Thor was the second most powerful god. He was the god of thunder and the weather in general. Like Odin, Thor was also a warrior god. Odin`s mood would change quite a bit and he wasn`t known to be very smart.  
>He owned the hammer <strong>Mjølner<strong> which would always come back to him when he called for it.

**Frigg** was very beautiful and also very powerful. She is the goddess of love and destiny. I`ve always found her a bit of a sad character because of what happened to her son **Balder.** Frigg asked all plants and creatures to never hurt Balder. But she forgot one, the mistletoe. **Loke** (I think you call him **Loki** in English) – who was known for his mischiefs – heard this and had an arrow made out of mistletoe and through deceit, he had Balder shot and killed by this arrow. Frigg always blamed herself for her son`s death since she`d not made the mistletoe promise to never hurt him.

**Loke** was Odin`s blood brother or foster brother and was therefore respected among the gods. But he was a trickster and a god most people today have a hard time understanding. He would trick his fellow gods and would be severely punished but he was not looked upon as "bad". He wasn`t like Lucifer in the Christian belief. Loke was a shapeshifter and has been portrayed as taking the shape of a number of different animals.  
>Loke was the one to cause <strong>Ragnarok<strong> – or the end of the world. This was his final trick.

**Freya**: She was one of the most popular goddesses and was the goddess of love and fertility. She was called upon when women were pregnant and also in matters of love. Freya was also a warrior god (who wasn`t?) and a god of death.  
>Freya was so popular the Icelandic chief Hjalte Skjeggson was made "peaceless" or an outlaw in the year 999 for making fun of her in a poem. He had to escape Iceland or he would have been killed. Ring any bells for religious practices today?<p>

There were a lot of gods but these were the most important. If you want to know more about other gods, or want to hear some of their stories, just let me know. And please let me know if you think it`s boring because I might just tell you the stories of the gods if no one stops me.

**Final note**: Do you think the first two people on earth were Adam and Eve (or Lucy and some other prehistoric man)? You would be wrong, of course. The first two people on earth were **Ask** and **Embla**. Ask any Viking and he or she will tell you :-)


	9. Chapter 9

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 9**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for all the great responses to this story. I appreciate them very much!

I also want to thank **Suki59** for being such a great beta and friend.

The characters in this story belong to **Charlaine Harris** who, in my book, has done only one thing wrong in the series. She hasn`t let Eric fight enough with his sword. He should be allowed at least one sword-fight a book. And Sookie should learn too.

To make up for it there are plenty of swords in this chapter.

EDIT: This was supposed to have been posted yesterday but technical problems with the site made it impossible. Sorry.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

A group of men and two women were on the practice ground already. It was a meadow a bit outside of Nordby and the trampled down grass bore witness to many a warrior training with his sword here. There were a few trees on the outskirts of the meadow – all of them with marks from people throwing axes or spears at them.

It was a warm day, bees buzzing and the air full of pollen from the birch trees. I enjoyed the sun`s rays on my face but turned my attention to the crowd already in the meadow. Eric`s hand was warm on the small of my back but I didn`t step away from it. For all I knew, he needed his hand there for balance, having been bedridden for days.

Everyone looked at us when we walked up there. I wasn`t what they were staring at – they`d seen me train a couple of times already. No, it was Eric that made them turn around.

Someone broke out of the group and I recognized Rasul, Queen Sophie-Anne`s man. He gave us a big smile and walked over to us.

"I`m glad to see you up and about, Eric," he said and touched Eric lightly on his shoulder.

Eric winced but it didn`t seem as if Rasul noticed and Eric quickly regained his normal confident stance.

We all walked over to the rest of the group and Eric introduced me. I`d already met some of them but Bill of the Long Silences, Thalia the Old and Felicia the Fair were new introductions.

Bill of the Long Silences bowed deeply, something I`d never had anyone do to me before. I`d heard of foreigners kissing women`s hands so even if Bill of the Long Silences seemed local, I kept my hands behind my back just to be sure. I didn`t want anyone slobbering on my knuckles.

"We`ve heard about you," Thalia the Old said. "But I never thought we would have the pleasure of meeting you."

Her dark eyes penetrated me, speaking of wisdom and the kind of experience that comes with having seen and done things – not just from being old. Thalia the Old hadn`t fought in years but I knew all the stories about her bravery and strength. I also knew that her great sorrow was to not have died in battle. Or at least that was how the stories went. She was too accomplished a warrior to be killed on the battlefield and now she would never be invited to Valhalla.

I nodded. "It`s an honor to meet you." I wanted to tell her that I thought she was a legend. That I dreamed of being as great as she was. That she`d made men respect shieldmaidens. But all I could do was nod again.

"Maybe you want to help out training Felicia here?" she asked and I nodded again.

I knew how to train people, treading the fine line between getting rid of their bad habits without breaking them down, and called Felicia out on the ground. We both grabbed the wooden swords.

I noticed Eric picking up an ax and throwing it at the trees when I checked Felicia`s grip on her sword.

We ran through a couple of basic moves so I could decide what level she was and then we started fighting. I dodged her hits and told her when she was too open for mine. Felicia was strong and had potential but not very much confidence.

"I`ve won all my battles," I told her. "So has Thalia. You aren`t going to lose a battle because you`re a woman. You`re going to lose it because you think you`re weak."

"I don`t," she claimed.

"Then prove it," I said and Felicia started hitting harder.

After a while of heavy fighting we were both sweaty and Felicia had a hard time breathing.

"You should run more," I said. "And lift your sword over your head 200 times a day. Your heavy sword."

I hadn`t noticed how not only Thalia but also Bill and Eric had found rocks to sit on while watching me as I gave Felicia her lessons. Eric smiled at me when I turned in his direction but it was Bill of the Long Silences who got up and walked towards me.

"Could I interest you in a sparring?" he asked and I nodded. I always welcomed working out with new people because it gave me a taste of the different ways men fought. It prepared me for battle.

"Sure," I said and got ready. "Wood or steel?"

"I think we`re old enough for steel, don`t you think?" he asked, looking very serious.

I nodded and went to get my training sword. It was the one I`d beaten Eric with and I couldn`t help winking at him as I turned around, flashing it in the sun. He winked back and smiled which made me laugh a little.

I turned my attention to Bill who`d also picked up his sword and was ready for me. He stood still, assessing me, waiting for me to make my first move.

I`d always preferred men who relied on their strength when they fought me. Men who would jump forward, expecting an easy kill given my small size. But Bill of the Long Silences was one of the few warriors who would use his brain and not just his muscles.

He wasn`t small and he didn`t look weak so that wasn`t the reason why he wasn`t attacking me. I looked at him, trying to prepare for his moves and then I couldn`t help grinning. He was doing what I always did – letting the opponent lay himself open by attacking. But I wasn`t playing his game. So I just waited. I knew I had the patience to wait for him for as long as it took.

And finally he was tired of just standing there. Or maybe it was the people looking at us, taunting us, telling us we were cowards. Because suddenly he jumped forward with a loud scream (so much for the Long Silences), his sword lifted high over his head.

I avoided the blow of his sword and managed to hit him in the hip. Not a killing blow, even if our swords hadn`t been blunt. But he would bruise. He pirouetted quickly and I would have had his sword in my shoulder if I hadn`t seen it coming and avoided it. I stuck my sword in his stomach, making him double over, but he swung his sword again, this time against my legs. I jumped and while in the air, I knocked the sword out of his hand. He lost balance and was down on his knees.

Bill got up and nodded at me, making me the winner of the first fight. Then he picked up his sword and we were back in a new battle.

Bill fought well but since he planned all his moves well ahead of making them, he was also very predictable. At least for me. I knocked him over, avoided his blows and was declared the winner of each of the many battles we fought.

When we were done Bill of the Long Silences bowed again and I bowed back.

"I should like to continue training with you," he said. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"Sure," I answered. His fighting skills were different enough for him to be more than just an ordinary practice. I actually learned something – I had to stretch myself to beat him.

Eric came over to me with some water and I drank it greedily. It was midday and the sun was hot.

"Thank you," I said, trying to catch my breath again.

"You did very well. Bill is a good warrior."

"Thank you," I repeated, smiling with pride.

I`d beaten everyone I I`d been up against in battle and most everyone I`d been training with. It was only in my early days, before I`d mastered using my premonitions in battle, that I`d had to eat dirt on the training ground. But Eric`s words still warmed me.

"How is your back?" I asked.

"It`s better. I just need to practice with the sword. Maybe you would spar with me if you`re not too tired?" Eric`s blond hair was glowing in the sun and I enjoyed the way he looked at me. It wasn`t that wolfy look that told me he wanted to get between my legs. No, there was admiration in his eyes. Respect, maybe.

"Sure," I said. "Do you want me to go easy on you?"

That killed his smile and I wasn`t sure why.

"I`m not letting you beat me again, Sookie." His voice was cool as winter snow.

I laughed because I couldn`t help myself. "I was wondering if you needed me to go easy on you because of your back – not because I beat you in …."

"I don`t need any special care. I`m twice your size and I can handle a bit of pain in my back." Eric straightened up in the same menacing posture he`d had when I met him first on the battlefield.

I shook my head. "The only thing bigger than you is your ego. You`ve been bedridden for days – and with good reason. If you don`t want me to take that into account when we fight, fine. But don`t be a prick about it."

Eric`s nostrils flared a few times but then he relaxed and his smile was back.

"I won`t be a prick," he said, his voice indicating something I couldn`t make out. "You think you can beat me again, Sookie?"

"Not only can I beat you but I`ll have you down in the dirt before you know it," I taunted. Warriors like Eric always fought worse when they were angry.

Unfortunately Eric`s smile never faltered. "Do you care to bet on that?" he asked.

I shrugged, pretending I didn`t care though I would rather not have him name some silly prize he wanted to fight for. "If you want. I`m going to beat you anyway."

Eric let his hand run through his hair, his eyes on me and his lips pursed. He closed his eyes for a few moments and then he smiled.

"We fight five battles. Whoever wins the most battles wins. A killing blow names the winner," he said.

"And the winner wins …?" I asked.

"The winner can name his prize when he`s won," he answered with a grin.

"When _she_`s won, you mean," I said, mimicking his stupid grin.

"You`re not going to beat me this time, Sookie." Eric was full of confidence. Full of bullshit, actually, but in his case it was the same.

"Grab your sword, big boy," I said. "And let`s see what you can manage. I may let you beat me once so you don`t have to end up crying on my shoulder but I`ll have you on the ground at least four times."

"Big boy?" he asked and his laughter didn`t stop until my sword hit his so hard he almost dropped it.

And with that the fight was on.

Eric was as quick as I remembered him and it didn`t seem as if his healing wounds held him back at all. He jumped and he struck and he almost knocked me over more than once. I thanked all the gods for the gift they`d given me or Eric would have had me on my back in no time. He really was an amazing warrior and one could tell he loved to fight. I did too, but not as much as he did.

I dodged most of his blows and the ones that landed on me were not close to being deadly. They were a surprise, though. Usually I kept myself clear of all blows, all swords and axes and spears. That was my gift.

But with Eric it seemed I knew just a tiny moment too late what he was going to do. Not too late to avoid being knocked over, but enough for him to give me bruises.

I hurt him worse than he hurt me, luckily. If we hadn`t fought with blunt swords, Eric would have been bleeding from his legs, hips and his arm. I couldn`t seem to be able to hit him higher, his being so terribly tall.

We circled each other, our swords smashing together – something I would do anything to avoid in the future since my sword hand hurt like all the torments of the Jötunns after my hard blow – trying to knock each other down.

Finally I managed to get him off balance when he jumped me in a two-step I saw coming. I hit his knees hard – it had worked before, it could work again – and kicked him in his hip. He went down sideways and the surprised look on his face was worth a barrel of gold.

Not wanting to miss my victory, I jumped on top of him, landing with a foot on each side of him, and situated the tip of my sword at his chest. Not hard, but just to mark that he would have been killed if these had been real swords and this were a real fight.

I heard clapping and saw Thalia, Felicia, Bill and the rest of them giving me nods and other kinds of approval and turned to take a bow but then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Eric back on his feet so I turned towards him and the fight was back on.

He was even harder to predict now. It was as if I only knew in the last moment what he was going to do. I still managed to deal him some hard blows and after a very rough match, I had him on the ground again, my sword pressed against his chest.

I wiped the sweat off my brow and had a drink of water but when I felt a motion behind me I had to throw the cup away and jump to the side, Eric`s sword barely missing me.

I was tired now but one got tired in a battle too so it was great practice. I focused on the tall blond and his moves, having even greater problems predicting what he was going to do. He took sidesteps I didn`t see before he was in the air – lifted his sword when I was sure he was going to move it downwards.

Frustrated over not being able to trust the abilities that had saved me so often, I jumped higher, hit harder and tried my best to knock Eric over again.

Imagine my surprise when his sword hit my chest in what would have been a death blow if we`d not fought with blunt swords.

"And you`re dead," Eric the Northman said in a level voice.

"I told you I would let you win one of the five." I tried to keep my voice light, convincing, but inside I was in turmoil. Eric the Northman had beaten me? He`d landed a blow that I hadn`t seen coming? How had that happened?

I took a deep breath, trying to settle my nerves.

"Indeed you did." Eric smiled and I knew he didn`t believe I`d thrown the fight.

I was going to show him. Two more games. I only needed to win one of them to win it all.

The next fight went even worse. I searched my brain for clues as to what Eric was going to do but every time I found one, he did something else entirely. Soon I was bruised all over my arms and legs and the final blow – his sword at my back just where my heart was pounding – was less of a surprise than all the rest of them. I just saw it too late to be able to do anything about it.

I wiped my brow again and caught Felicia the Fair`s eyes. She was looking at me as if I were betraying her. As if I were supposed to prove something to her. Instead I was confirming her worst fears.

I shook my head – this last game was mine. Eric the Northman was not going to beat me now. He was not going to prove to Felicia that he was a better fighter than I was just because he was bigger.

With a loud scream I threw myself at him and my first blow was hard and should have knocked him to the ground. My second one was even harder. I hit him in the thigh, something that would have brought him to his knees if the sword had been a real one.

As it was, my blow only made him grunt in pain and he hit my sword arm before I could jump out of his reach. Then his mind projected to me that he was going to jump to the right and I turned to meet the attack – only to find that he was jumping to the left and before I knew what was happening, I was on my back on the ground, Eric the Northman on all fours, straddling my body.

Slowly he raised his sword and laid it softly on my neck.

Then he bent down, his mouth on my neck. "You`re dead," he whispered and licked a trail of sweat that was rolling down my throat.

I wanted to slap him but I accepted defeat. Anything else would be without honor.

"How did you do it?" I asked in a low voice.

"How did I, big muscular man, beat you, small woman?" he taunted.

"You know I fight well. I haven`t been beaten by anyone since I was 15."

Eric was still straddling me, still kissing my neck.

I quickly glanced around to see if people were still watching us but apparently they`d found better things to do and the crowd was gone.

"It`s true, Sookie. You are an amazing warrior. But I found your weakness and I used it against you."

"My weakness?" I asked.

"I know how you do it. I know you can predict your opponents` moves." Eric said it in a very low voice so that no one could hear him – not that anyone was around. "I`ve watched you, you know. And I`m worried. Just like I rely too much on my height and strength, you rely too much on this. You need to diversify. To learn how to predict moves by looking at your opponent. I`ll teach you."

"Oh, great. Just the ego boost you need – to teach me how to fight."

Eric laughed. "Oh, you`ll beat me again, I`m sure."

Without my noticing it, Eric`s body had fallen down on mine – heavy and hot.

"I suppose you`ll want your prize now," I said, knowing just what he wanted from me.

Which was why his answer came as a surprise.

"Yes. I want you to answer me three questions. One for each battle I won."

"You want answers?" I asked. "I thought …."

"If you want to have sex with me, I`ll be happy to oblige, Sookie, but I figured that would be your prize, not mine."

I rolled my eyes but Eric was too busy kissing by collarbone to notice.

"Let me up and I`ll answer your questions," I grunted.

I`d thought Eric would stay on top of me but he rolled back on his feet and got up. Then he gave me a hand and helped me up too.

After having brushed off some of the dirt from my clothes, I looked at Eric.

"What is your first question?" I asked.

Eric smiled at me. "Oh, my first question is easy enough: What happened between you and Claude?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I hope you liked this chapter. Sword fights are always good, right? Or is that just me? *cough*

**Runes**

**Northman Maille** asked if runes were pictorial or letters like ours. They were letters. Runes as letters were used from around year 200 to several hundred years after the last Viking went to his grave. With Christianity we got the Latin letters too and they were used for most official documents while runes were used for shorter messages and more personal writings.

Not many runes have survived from the Viking age up until today. What we have are mainly the runes carved in stones and as you can imagine they didn`t have long messages. Most of the tunes carved into branches etc have disappeared ages ago.

Runes weren`t just letters. Not to the Vikings, at least. Runes were several things. In the sagas you will find whispered words and magical signs called runes but also the letters we know as runes today.

There are several rune alphabets and the number of letters in the rune alphabet goes from 16 to 26.

**Odin and Frigg**

I figured I would give you a little story about the gods as well. Today Odin is much more well-known than his wife Frigg but to the Vikings these two married people were equals and they often fought over domination – over who controlled human fates better.

From time to time Odin and Frigg would make bets with each other by playing with human lives to see who would win. In one of the stories Odin and Frigg are farmers and find the two sons of King Raudung stranded on the beach.

Odin adopts Geirrød and Frigg takes Agnar as her son. They take care of the two children all winter and when spring comes they put them on a boat to take them home. Just when they are about to set sails Odin whispers something to Geirrød that no one else hears.

When Geirrød and Agnar land in their home country, Geirrød jumps from the boat first and pushes it to sea again before Agnar manages to jump ashore. Geirrød then walks to his father`s house where he is greeted and made king since his father had died during the winter. Agnar lands in a grotto where he marries a _jætte._

Odin taunts Frigg by saying, "Look at my son. He is king now. Your son lives in a grotto with a _jætte."_

Frigg decides to trick Odin and tells him Geirrød is cheap and doesn`t treat his guests well – one of the worst sins back then. Odin refuses to believe this and visits Geirrød in disguise but Frigg has already sent her maid Fulla to warn Geirrød about the terrible sorcerer who has come to the country to put a spell on Geirrød.

When Geirrød sees Odin he doesn`t recognize him but thinks he is the sorcerer Fulla warned him about so he ties him up between two bonfires and refuses him food and drink. Odin is very thirsty and hungry and his cape is on fire.

What Odin doesn`t know is that Geirrød has a son named Agnar and according to the sagas, his brother`s soul is in his son`s body. Agnar, the son of Geirrød, recognizes Odin and immediately brings him food and drink and puts the cape-fire out.

Odin thanks him by saying some of his words of wisdom and Geirrød recognizes him too. He runs to help Odin but stumbles on the sword he was cleaning and lands upon it and kills himself in the fall.

Agnar is made king and is king for a longer time than Geirrød and Frigg wins the bet because her foster-son honored the guest and he was king longer than Odin`s foster-son.

This story may be a bit boring to most people today but I think it says a lot about how the Vikings viewed their gods. The Viking gods would gladly have people die just to win a bet against their spouses. And, though Odin and Frigg loved each other and respected each other, they also kept making bets they took very seriously. I kind of see these two gods have major pillow fights with each other – only using the fates of men and women as their pillows.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – chapter 10**

**A/N:**

It seems most of you agreed on more sword fights. How about more naked Erics? Yes, I know – an entirely rhetorical question.

Thank you so much for all your comments and reviews. You should see the smile they put on my face.

I also want to thank **Suki59** for not only betaing this baby but also keeping track of whatever I lose.

Eric, Sookie and all the other characters belong to **Charlaine Harris**. I only own their swords. In my dreams, at least.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

Eric`s question startled me. I`d braced myself for questions like "why are you pushing me away?" or "why aren`t you admiring me like any normal girl?" but his asking me about Claude came as a complete shock.

First, because I`d succeeded in burying everything that had happened between Claude and me so deeply inside I`d almost forgotten what had happened. I`d put it behind me. Locked it up and misplaced the key.

Second, because I had no idea what Eric had noticed – why he would ask me that question. Claude and I behaved like any pair of cousins would. I liked Claude – loved him even. He was, after all, one of two family members I had left. And what had happened between us was years ago. Ages, really.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to pretend I didn`t understand what he meant, which wasn`t too hard since I had no idea why Eric would ask that question. I knew, of course, what he could be referring to but how could he know about that?

"If I`m not mistaken, I was the one who won the right to ask questions. Not you. So what happened between you and Claude?"

I exhaled so loudly any horse would be proud of the sound I made.

Not sure how to answer Eric`s question, I searched my brain for buried memories. My feelings towards Claude, all the anger and despair, had been put in a thick mental coffin and buried. He was my cousin and we couldn`t afford my frustrations to grow - which was why I`d made an effort to forget the more unfortunate … things … long ago.

Claude and I got along just fine now. It was water on the shore – last year`s harvest.

I looked at Eric to see if his face gave away any clues as to why he`d asked me that particular question. How he`d known.

But looking at him was a bad idea. His smile. The bead of sweat trailing down his cheek. The long, blond hair just begging me to touch it.

I shook my head. I was hot and in desperate need of water so I started walking – not really sure where I was going. If I`d only wanted a drink, there`d been plenty of drinking water on the practice field but as I got closer to the river, I realized I needed a bath.

I needed to clear my head. Cool down.

I knew Eric was following me. I heard his footsteps and could see his shadow moving next to mine. But I wasn`t paying attention to him.

My mind was on Claude. And on how I was going to answer Eric`s question.

I could lie, of course. That would have been easy. But it would also have been dishonorable since Eric had won the right to three truthful answers from me. I had many flaws but I always kept my word.

When I came to the river I pulled off my clothes and jumped into the water, hoping the cool water would help me come up with an answer. And it did. After a long dive I broke surface and focused all my attention on Eric who was only now getting into the water with me.

We were alone. Fortunately. Unfortunately.

My resolve was broken for a few seconds, staring at Eric`s magnificent body, but then I pushed all thought of his strong arms and impressive thighs away and decided to give Eric a short reply. It would be truthful, but as short as I could possibly make it.

"Claude asked me to marry him when I was 16," I said and dived under again.

I wasn`t sure what I expected when I came up for air. Eric`s being surprised, probably. Or maybe that Eric would laugh at me for having been infatuated with a man who so clearly preferred other men to his younger and very star struck cousin.

Except I hadn`t told Eric about that part. About my being in love with Claude. Or Claude working very hard at making me fall in love with him.

Instead he just nodded as if I`d told him something he`d figured out for himself.

"And you turned him down," he commented.

I listened carefully to hear if this was a question. Would it count as one of the three he was allowed to ask me? But it wasn`t a question, unfortunately.

I still replied. "Not exactly. Well, not at first, anyway."

Gran had been thrilled that her two grandchildren – the two everyone frowned upon as "not marriage material" – had found each other. We would give her great-grandchildren and she wouldn`t have to endure the shame of having unmarried family members.

"You`re not married to Claude now," Eric stated.

Still not a question.

"No. Right before the wedding was supposed to take place Claude told me why he wanted me to be his wife."

It wasn`t a long sentence, but it left me breathless. Raw.

Eric was now standing very close to me and I hadn`t even noticed he`d moved. He turned me around, facing the forest on the other side of the river, and started to touch my back. Massage my shoulders.

I exhaled.

"What he wanted out of the marriage was something I couldn`t give."

At the time I`d thought I was in love with Claude. And why not? I was 16 and my big, brave cousin gave me all his attention. For several months he`d flirted with me, given me stolen kisses and heated promises and I`d been thrilled the day he`d asked me to be his wife. Proud, even.

But just before the wedding things had changed. Claude had wanted "a talk." How I loathed having "a talk" – nothing good ever came out of such a thing.

The memory of Claude as he told me he was only going to share my bed often enough for us to procreate (his choice of word), that he liked me well enough but that I had the wrong kind of body for him to be truly attracted to me, that he would keep his male lovers throughout our marriage – that memory had been suppressed for too long and it hurt to be reminded of it.

Eric leaned down and kissed my shoulder while making some kind of comforting sound. I was about to step away from him when his fingers hit a muscle knot and instead of objecting to his kiss, I groaned out in pain. His knuckles ground deep into that sensitive spot and a pain shot like a bolt of lightning into my head.

But when his fingers lifted from the sore area they`d added pressure to, I felt relief. It was as if a tension had been taken away from me.

"You`re good," I acknowledged.

"Your back is in a pitiful condition, Sookie. It`s a wonder you`re not suffering from severe back pains."

Happy about the change of subject, I nodded. "I do wake up sometimes feeling like I`ve slept on a rock."

Of course, when we were on raids I sometimes did sleep on rocks and my back never liked it very much.

"Let me see what I can do," Eric said and soon his fingers found more sore spots and he had me crying out in pain – or grinding my teeth to avoid complete humiliation.

I was a shieldmaiden. Shieldmaidens didn`t scream just because someone touched their shoulders and backs.

Eric`s finger`s traveled down the small of my back and soon they found muscle knots in my butt that needed to be dealt with. If someone had suggested that morning that I would be cursing Eric for touching my butt, I would have believed them. But somehow, this was not the kind of butt touching I`d have envisioned.

After having brought deep pain – and a very welcome relief – to my shoulders, back and butt, Eric`s fingers went back to a lighter massage. I couldn`t help leaning into his touch, enjoying the way my muscled relaxed and were infused with new energy.

Eric the Northman truly had magical fingers.

Reminding myself of the topic Eric and I had just discussed, I made a serious effort to clear my mind of Eric`s hands touching me, his breath on my neck, his body so close to mine. His _naked_ body so close to mine.

"You still have two questions left," I said, trying to make my voice sound unmoved but not entirely sure I`d succeeded.

"I do," Eric said and continued touching my back and then moved forward and let his hands glide over my stomach.

The river was freezing but even standing in the middle of it, hip deep in the water, I was not even close to being cold.

I also noticed that the temperature of the water had no cooling effect on Eric – judging from what was poking into my butt cheek.

"My second question, Sookie, is this: Can I touch your breasts?"

My brain screamed "NO!" but for some reason my mouth wasn`t listening. "Yes," it said and before I could retract my answer, his large hands were on the body parts in question.

My mouth, clearly having a mind of its own, sighed deeply, and my body, not wanting to be any better, leaned into Eric.

He leaned down and kissed my neck again. Bit it a little and sucked just enough for me to get love bites I would have to hide with my hair.

My hands pulled him closer, grabbing his hips, his butt, feeling the muscles in his thighs. Somehow our bodies started moving in rhythm, his body grinding into mine, his hands groping my breasts, working their way down my stomach to …

I`d had sex before, of course. I`d even had sex while bathing before. But I had never felt anything like this – the all consuming desire I suddenly felt for Eric.

Yes, I`d acknowledged his fine body and his charm but I had seen his flaws too. I had carefully avoided him, knowing how disastrous it would be to open myself up to him – physically or emotionally. Eric had the power to turn me into a love sick puppy and that didn`t fit very well with being a shieldmaiden.

And yet, here I was, wanting him inside me. Wanting … more.

Eric must have sensed the tension in me – the way I`d stopped moving my hips and grabbing his thighs – because he kissed my ear and then he whispered, "I`m not Claude."

That had me pulling away from Eric and turning around.

"You arrogant …" I couldn`t find a fitting curse. "My having second thoughts has nothing to do with Claude. Until you asked, Claude was a minor thing in my past. He broke my heart, but do you really think I`m so weak I would still be licking my wounds?"

I glared at Eric who looked insecure for a moment or two.

"You`re anything but weak, Sookie," he finally said. "Why do you keep rejecting me if it`s not because of what happened with Claude?"

He looked as if he just couldn`t fathom how anyone could say no to him without a good and solid reason. It was a mystery to him – up there with why cows give us white milk when they eat green grass. Why winds from the east are always colder than winds from the west. And why women bleed every month.

Maybe the last one was my mystery more than Eric`s. And it wasn`t as much a mystery as an everyday annoyance.

What Eric was struggling to comprehend was how anyone – and I in particular – would reject him. To be honest, looking at him, I wondered myself. At least for a few moments until I had given myself that mental slap I needed.

"Is that your third question?" I asked.

Eric looked at me, but then he shook his head. "No, I`ll ask my third question later."

I`d been so preoccupied with Eric and our discussion that I hadn`t noticed Quinn running towards us until he shouted Eric`s name.

"What is it, Quinn?" I asked since Eric didn`t seem to want to pay attention to him.

"It`s Mum," he said. "She says you have to come home right now. It`s urgent," he added in a voice that indicated that "urgent" was a word his mother had told him to use.

I got out of the water and started dressing, letting my wet braid drip down my clothes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eric getting out of the water too but I quickly looked away, not wanting to see that body I`d just had so close to mine, doing things to me that I should have stopped before they`d gotten that far.

When we`d both put on out clothes, we followed Quinn back towards Nordby and Eric`s house.

"Is something wrong with your mother?" Eric asked. "Is she sick?"

"No." Quinn looked surprised.

"But what is it, then?" Eric was getting frustrated.

"Mum just said it was … urgent." Quinn used that grown up word again and I didn`t like the sound of it. What would be urgent enough for Pam to send Quinn to get us?

Our pace quickened and soon Eric pulled Quinn up in his arms since his nephew was slowing us down, and carried him the rest of the way back to Eric`s home.

I was the first one to enter Eric`s house and was surprised to see Jason and Claude in what looked like shock. No, it was anger. They were both sitting on one of the benches and Pamela was on the bench on the other side of the table, with Frannie in her lap.

There was one more person in the room and after my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I recognized him. Rasul the Secretive was sitting next to Pamela.

Rasul got up when he saw Eric and me entering the house. He didn`t move towards us so we walked to the table and finally Jason and Claude also noticed us. I sat down next to Jason and Eric went to sit next to his sister, pulling Quinn into his lap.

I found myself staring at Claude and he cocked his eyebrow as if asking me why I was suddenly paying him attention after having neglected him for years. Or maybe he just felt like cocking his eyebrow when I was looking at him and I thought it had a deeper meaning because of my trip into the Land of Hidden Memories.

I redirected my attention to Rasul, silently asking him what he`d come for.

"Sookie," he started. "I have some sad news for you."

Jason interrupted. "He told us to wait until you were back. He hasn`t said a word to us." Jason was angry. Or his pride was hurt. One never knew when it came to Jason.

Rasul continued as if Jason hadn`t spoken. "We have had information about your village," he started.

"My … our village?" I repeated.

"It seems Felipe the Throne-robber was behind a most cowardly attack on your village. We don`t know whether your village managed to fight back or how many people Felipe`s men managed to kill, but Queen Sophie-Anne asked me to tell you that your loss will be avenged, however large."

While I silently contemplated Felipe`s change of name from Felipe the Elegant to Felipe the Throne-robber, Jason got up, anger radiating from his body.

"She can be damned sure it will be avenged," Jason cried out. "If I have to kill Felipe all by myself."

Jason grabbed his sword as if Felipe were in the very room and Jason could cut his head off and everything would be back to the way it was supposed to be.

I noticed how Rasul studied Jason, apparently pleased with his reaction. Claude, on the other hand, had his eyes on me as if I were about to say something that would make a difference. Claude, being a couple of years older than I, should have been the head of our little family but I had somehow assumed the role.

"I can assure you that Queen Sophie-Anne is planning to strike back and put an end to Felipe the Throne-robber`s cowardly behavior. She will make sure to put you in the front of the raid so that Felipe`s blood will be on your swords." Rasul was talking to Jason but he was looking at me.

"We thank your queen for the honor," I said.

"Tell her that I, Jason the Brave, will personally kill her uncle. Slowly."

Apparently it wasn`t just Felipe who`d had a change of names. Jason had been known as Jason the Promiscuous for as long as I could remember – a name that fit him very well.

But Jason was Brave. The kind of brave that came with not being able to perceive danger for what it was, but still brave. I smiled at him to encourage him. I liked having a brother called Jason the Brave and hoped more people than Jason would use that name.

"I`m sure Queen Sophie-Anne will be relieved to hear that," Rasul said.

"When will the attack on Felipe take place?" I asked. I was ready to leave in the morning. I was torn, though, because I really wanted to go home to see the damage and help the wounded, but if we could strike against Felipe and get our bloody revenge, then I would gladly postpone a visit home until Felipe was in his grave.

Rasuls looked at his hands. "In the autumn at the latest," he replied.

"In the autumn?" Claude, Jason and I shouted.

"Oh, at the very latest. Queen Sophie-Anne needs to prepare the attack well since it will be the final battle. She can not risk losing it and is currently negotiating with other tribes to join forces with her," Rasul explained.

I noticed Eric nodding as if he agreed with Rasul and that nod made me want to dunk his head into the table. How well could anyone prepare for battle? You sharpened your sword, made sure your boat didn`t have any leaks and those were the preparations you needed before you went in killing as many as possible.

"Vengeance should be immediately and bloody," I said, meeting Rasul`s eyes.

"I shall bring that into the queen`s considerations," he replied.

After a little while more of Jason, Claude and me demanding instant bloodshed and Rasul trying to reason with us, he finally left.

When the door closed behind Queen Sophie-Anne`s man, I gave Eric the death stare.

"Thank you so much for supporting our need for vengeance," I said, pouring all my sarcasm into my voice.

"The result would have been the same no matter what I`d said." Eric got up, walked over to the bench I was sitting on and sat down next to me. He tried to put his arm around me but I scooted further down the bench, closer to Jason.

Me childish?

Maybe.

"You don`t know that!" I argued.

"I know that. I know the Queen much better than you do." He slid down the bench so that he was sitting right next to me. "And if the Queen thinks I`m fine with waiting for her to plan her battles down to the smallest detail then she won`t pay much attention when I take one of my ships out for battle training."

I looked at him and saw how close he was. I could feel his warm breath on my shoulder and shuddered. I was about to ask him what he meant when Claude interrupted.

"You`re going to help us avenge our village?" he asked, looking past me and Jason at Eric.

"I`m going to help you get back to your village to assess the damage. If any of Felipe`s men are still there, I`ll help you kill them." Eric held up a hand to stop Jason from cheering. "But I can`t go after Felipe if he`s not in your village. I am not committing treason by ruining Sophie-Anne`s plans."

"You would take us home?" I asked almost breathless. Now that the idea had been launched I felt a deep desire, a need, to see how Tara was doing. And Sam. And JB. And Amelia. And all the other people I knew and loved.

He grabbed my hand in my lap and I let him.

"We can leave in the morning if you`d like."

Nothing could stop Jason from cheering now.

* * *

><p>I hope you liked the chapter.<p>

**A/N:**

**Death**

I think I mentioned that warriors who were brave in battle would be picked up by Odin`s shieldmaidens – the Valkyries – and delivered to Valhalla where they would fight and drink and have a great time until Ragnarokk (the end of time) when they will be called upon to fight on Odin`s side.

But what about everyone else? What about all the people who died from falling down a cliff, childbirth, pneumonia, hunger and what not? What happened to them, according to Norse mythology?

They would go to Hel. Notice that it only has one "l". This isn`t Hell as in a place where sinners go and are punished according to Christian belief. No, Hel, or Helheim as it`s also referred to, is the Kingdom of Death and the Queen governing that Kingdom (or Queendom, as it should be called) is called Hel as well.

Hel (the place) is dark, cold and moist and one could easily understand why warriors would prefer to go to Valhalla.

The life and death of a Viking was decided by the _Norns_. They were women who controlled the destiny of gods and men and they were present when Vikings were born and when they died. Each person got his or her own thread in a gigantic loom when he or she was born and when it was time for them to die, their thread was cut. The threads were called Life threads or Destiny threads.

There were many Norns and they all had different tasks. Some kept the _Yggdrasil_ – the tree of life – alive and some caused trouble for the people they were looking out for.

Both Roman and Greek mythology have gods who are similar to the Norns.

By the way – I can recommend that you look up the short film "The Saga of Biorn" on YouTube. It`s hilarious.

**Hell, Norway**

On a fun note, here is what you can do if someone says "that`ll happen when Hell freezes over": Go to any online weather station – for instance the Norwegian yr _dot_ no – and find the village of Hell in Norway. Hell (in Norway) actually does freeze over four to five months a year.

Tourists who go there find the sign on the train station worth a photo or five. It says "Hell Gods Expedition." It`s an old sign and "Gods" means "goods".

You can find Hell, Norway – and a picture of that sign – on Wikipedia.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – chapter 11**

**A/N:**

EDIT: For some reason the wrong chapter came up. I`m redoing it and hope everything will be correct now.

I hope this chapter reaches you as it seems alerts on Fanfiction are down. I debated with myself whether or not to postpone posting but came to the conclusion that I wanted to keep up the Sunday/Monday routine. I hope that even the readers who are not alerted will find this chapter eventually.

I want to thank you for all the reviews and comments to the last chapter. I`m so pleased that you liked it – and that more and more readers are finding this story.

I also want to thank **Suki59** for betaing this story even if I keep making the same mistakes chapter after chapter [insert blush].

All the characters in this story belong to **Charlaine Harris**. I just brought them home and dressed them up in helmets and chainmail.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

"Why don`t you trust me?" Eric asked when we were in bed. I was on my back and he was on his side, propped up on his elbow, looking at me. Eric`s face was in shadow, the light from the fire dancing on the edges of his hair, turning it golden. His blue eyes shone through the darkness and I did my best to avoid meeting them.

Eric`s eyes did things to me I didn`t want to recognize. Things I didn`t want to know.

For some reason Jason was alone in the third bed in Eric`s and Pamela`s house. Claude had crawled under Pamela`s blankets and I was lying next to Eric debating with myself as to how I would answer his third question, almost wishing it had been like the second one, the one where he`d asked if he could touch my breasts.

I turned my head slightly in his direction. "I trust you," I said.

"No, you don`t."

"If we end up in battle tomorrow I would be able to turn my back to you and I would have no fear," I explained. "I can`t say that about many people."

"So you trust my fighting skills," he stated. "That doesn`t mean you trust me."

"It`s not just your fighting skills. I trust your honor. Your …" I searched my head to come up with an explanation. "I know your own life would have to be seriously threatened for you to give up on protecting mine."

Eric nodded as if he were pleased with what I`d said. "That`s true. I wouldn`t let you die unless I was close to being killed myself."

"You`re a man of honor," I said. "And a good fighter. So I trust you." I couldn`t be sure Eric was a man of honor, of course, but the way he`d let the families of the men who`d drowned hit him was a good indication. Eric was not a coward and he seemed to hold his honor high. Both were things I respected in a man."

"Thank you," Eric said. "But the fact that you trust me in battle does not mean that you trust me."

I let his words sink in, used to thinking in battle terms as I was. Mid-thought I felt Eric`s hand on my stomach and my focus on his words was broken. I pushed his hand away and noticed a faint smile on his lips. A smile that quickly disappeared.

"As you can see, you don`t trust me," Eric said in a low voice.

"Because I don`t want to have sex with you?" I asked, surprised that this was what he meant by trust.

"Because you don`t want to be my wife," he replied. "And because you don`t want to have sex with me." The faint smile he`d had on his lips only moments ago turned into a real one.

I looked away. Eric`s smile was as magical as any runes and I was afraid what that smile would do to me if I kept looking at it. It might even make me smile back and I was not a woman of many smiles.

"I don`t trust many people that way," I said, not really sure what else to say.

"I realize that. But you like me." Eric said it as a statement but I heard the tiny question too.

"Everyone likes you, Eric." I didn`t want to commit myself more than that.

I wasn`t looking at Eric`s face but I knew his smile just grew bigger.

"Why is it so important to you?" I asked. "Why do you want me to trust you?"

I could feel Eric`s shrug against my body. "I want you to be my wife. My real wife."

"Why?" I asked before I could stop myself. I wasn`t comfortable discussing this.

Eric was quiet for a moment as if my question came as a surprise. Then his hand moved back to my stomach. "I like you," he said.

I sighed. It sounded so easy. I liked him and he liked me. What more did one need? Only … I needed more. I just didn`t know what.

"Do you trust me?" I asked him.

"Of course I do," he said but he didn`t sound convincing. Or maybe it was just me who didn`t want him to sound convincing.

"Why?" I looked at him again, bracing myself against his smile, but the combination of those white teeth and the heat of his hand through the linen of my shift, made my heart beat a little faster.

"You wouldn`t hurt me." Eric sounded very sure.

That cleared my brain and I turned to my side facing him, copying the way Eric lay, leaning on my elbow as well. For some reason my index finger and my thumb thought it a good idea to trace one of the locks of his hair from the hairline at his neck, past his shoulder and to his chest.

Then he did the same to one of the locks of my hair and the two locks ended up laying there between us, so close in color and texture they might belong to the same person.

"How can you know that? Do you think I couldn`t hurt you if I wanted to?" I asked.

Eric went quiet for a moment and his smile was gone. "I think you could hurt me, Sookie. I think you could hurt me more the more we get to know each other."

I nodded because that was how I felt about him.

"But I don`t think you would. I trust you." Eric kissed me lightly on my lips, then he touched me between my eyebrows, straightening out my frown. He rolled back to lie on his stomach and closed his eyes.

"Why did you become a shieldmaiden?" he asked.

I wanted to point out to him that he`d used his three questions. Instead I turned his question back to him.

"Why did you become a warrior?"

"I`m good at it. I like it." Eric shrugged and I looked at him lying there, long shadows cast from his nose and his forehead. Suddenly he opened his eyes and looked at me. "Is that how you feel?" he asked. "Do you enjoy fighting?"

I thought about it. "I suppose I do." Then I nodded. "No, I know I love fighting. And that I`m good at it. I never was any good at weaving or any of the other chores a woman ought to be good at. But I always loved my sword even back when it was made of wood." I was quiet for a few moments. "Gran always supported me but I think my parents kept hoping I would become more …" I searched for the word but when it came to me it made me blush. "Marriageable."

Eric grinned and turned towards me again. "I find you perfectly marriageable." His hand touched my chin slightly, his thumb gliding up my cheek.

I pulled back a little, not wanting to stop my story midways. Not wanting to be distracted. "But when they saw how reckless Jason was and how … I wasn`t … my mother made me promise I would always protect my brother when we were in a battle together."

Eric stared at me. "Did you become a shieldmaiden to protect your brother?" His voice was a little louder and I wanted to hush him. Jason couldn`t know how much it meant to me that I was there to keep him alive. It would ruin his reputation. His self-esteem.

"Of course, not," I said, my voice a little angry. "I like being a shieldmaiden. I like kicking the pompous and self-adoring asses of big, bad warriors who think themselves invincible. I like knowing that I`m evening the scales."

"What scales?" Eric asked.

I rolled back and stared into the ceiling. "I`m physically weaker than most of the men I kill," I said. "It gives me some kind of satisfaction to know I can still beat them."

Eric was quiet for a moment and I thought he`d fallen asleep but then I felt his lips on my cheek.

"I like you, Sookie," he said. "I trust you too. But most of all, you impress me. Not many people do."

I turned my head and stared at him for a few moments. We looked at each other through the darkness and when he smiled at me, I smiled back.

Eric had all kinds of surprises installed for me. And I had to admit to myself that I liked it.

I must have fallen asleep because the fire had almost died out when I woke up. I listened to the darkness and tried to recall what I`d heard, what had woken me up, when the sound came back.

It took me a little while to recognize it, but I`d shared a room with Jason and Claude long enough to know what it was when I heard it again.

Someone was having sex.

I turned away from the sound and closed my eyes again, not wanting to intrude by listening in on Jason and whomever he was having sex with. I didn`t know it was Jason but assumed it since Claude was in Pamela`s bed.

Eric`s arm was around my waist but I didn`t notice it before his hand started stroking my stomach.

"Pamela wants to have more children," he whispered.

"Oh," I whispered, not understanding him at first. "Oh!" I repeated, when realization hit me.

Eric`s breathing evened out again and soon I was asleep too. There may have been a little smile on my lips.

Eric got out of bed before I did the next morning and I watched him as he got dressed before getting out of bed myself. There was nothing wrong with Eric`s body. Unfortunately he knew it too as the knowing smile he gave me bore witness of. Eric didn`t mind my watching him half naked. He didn`t mind it at all.

Since we were getting ready for battle, I rolled my dress up, put it away and pulled on my tunic and pants on instead. I had no problems fighting in my dress and I`d often trained in it. But my chainmail fit my tunic better and I preferred looking like one of the men when I fought like one of them.

I was just about to braid my hair when Eric grabbed my comb and gently ran it through every strand of my hair from the scalp to the tips. Then divided it into three sections and started braiding.

No one but I had braided my hair since Gran died and I had to admit to myself that I liked the feeling. Which made me pull away as soon as he was done.

I was just about to get up and walk out when he handed me the comb and made a gesture at his own hair, which looked like an owl`s nest. I shrugged and motioned for him to sit down on the bed. I slowly worked my way through his hair, trying to disentangle it without hurting him too much. When I was done, I made a thick braid down his back and tied the leather band Eric handed me at the end of it.

I let my fingers run down it a few times and then I let it fall down his back.

Eric pulled me around to stand between his legs and he looked up at me, his arms circling my waist. I grabbed his shoulders for balance when he pulled me closer but then my mouth suddenly found the top of Eric`s head kissable.

His hair smelled like fur and sunshine and …

And I knew I needed to pull away or this would take a direction I couldn`t control. I also knew that any minor slip in my control would be irreversible. Eric somehow got under my skin and giving him even a small opening would just end in … well, I didn`t know what it would end in but I was sure it couldn`t be good.

I pushed at Eric`s shoulders and he let go of me.

"We need to get ready," I said, my voice sounding strange.

"We do," Eric agreed and got up.

I looked at him and how unaffected he seemed. Yes, he wanted me but for what? I couldn`t deny the sexual attraction between us but Eric also insisted on our being married which made the whole situation impossible.

I could never be married to a man like Eric.

I probably could never be married at all, really, but Eric was the kind of husband who would expect too much and give too little.

He was just too handsome. Too self-confident. Thought too highly of himself.

But he had been so darned nice too. Considerate. Interested in my thoughts. In me.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and then I walked out. Eric was an amazing fighter and I was looking forward to fighting side by side with him.

Eric, Jason, Claude and I – we were a force to be reckoned with.

We`d taken a smaller – and slower – boat since the four of us were about twenty people too few to man a longboat. But the wind was favorable and we could expect to be home in a day or so if the gods were on our side.

Eric was a good sailor and Jason, Claude and I did our best to help out, eager as we all were to get home as quickly as possible.

Not being one to think thing too much over – I considered myself a doer more than a thinker – I still couldn`t help wondering about what would meet us. Would the village be burned down? How many would be dead? Had they managed to fight back?

I glanced at Eric sitting by the rudder, the wind pulling strands of hair from the braid I`d made. I was sitting next to him, staring at the land that was passing us by, hoping we would leave the flatlands behinds us soon and eager to see mountains.

"How did Queen Sophie-Anne know about the attack?" I asked him, not expecting an answer since Rasul the Secretive was the one who would have known, not Eric.

I glanced at him again and noticed a shrug.

"Queen Sophie-Anne has spies in Felipe`s camp," he said.

"I figured as much but what I don`t understand is .…" I paused to gather my thoughts. I was a fighter and as a fighter I`d grabbed my sword and run to the battle scene. Now that I had time on my hands – and no immediate battle – I`d started thinking. "It`s at least a day`s journey from Felipe`s camp to Nordby. Maybe two in bad weather. And it`s the same distance from Felipe`s camp to my village. If the spy reported on an attack that had already taken place – an attack Felipe`s warriors had returned from – then …." I counted in my head. "Then that attack must have taken place just after we left my village."

The gravity of it hit me. Was my village attacked just after three of the strongest warriors had left? Could we have made a difference if we`d stayed?

The wind hit my eyes and made tears well up in them.

"Or…," Eric said. "The spy reported of an attack about to take place. In that case we might be there just after Felipe`s men. A day after at the most."

I turned around and searched his face but there was nothing that revealed that he knew more than I did.

"Do you think so?" I asked, holding my breath.

"I`m an optimist." Eric had been looking straight ahead all through our conversation but suddenly his eyes were on me. "I like to hope for the best." He looked away again. "Of course, I always prepare for the worst and so should you, Sookie."

I nodded and couldn`t help wishing the boat would go faster. Maybe we could be there in time? Maybe we could make a difference in the battle?

* * *

><p><strong>AN:  
><strong>I hope you got this chapter and that you liked it.

**Hairstyles **

In this chapter Eric and Sookie groom each other`s hair. Charlaine Harris has her Viking Eric have long hair and even if Alan Ball chose to cut it off in True Blood, Eric will always have long hair when I picture him.

In the Viking age the slaves – men and women – had short hair or their heads were shaven. I`ve also heard mentions of warriors shaving the back of their heads – thus creating a back-forward mullet (excuse me for giggling) – to make sure the enemy couldn`t grab their hair in battle.

But generally it`s assumed that free men and women in the Viking age had long hair and that men often had full beards as well. Some men chose to dye their beards red or bleach their beards (and hair, possibly) and I`ve also read about men braiding thin straws of gold into their hair, making women in the countries they "visited" swoon.

Unmarried women would leave their hair unbraided and married women would braid their hair in a knot and wear a scarf or some kind of headwear over it.

One of the most common finds from the Viking age is combs. It seems most Vikings wouldn`t leave home without it and that they used it every day.

Another thing for personal grooming one has found quite a lot of is ear spoons to clean the ears with. Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like – little spoons they would use in their ears to dig out … well, no need to go into details. Let`s just say that I hope all Q-tips of today are gone when the archeologists of the future start excavating around my house. I don`t want them to have the same reaction I had when I read about ear spoons.

Vikings were generally well groomed and washed themselves regularly. The only people who wouldn`t wash daily (or at least weekly) were people in mourning. Refusing to wash one`s hands, face and hair was a sign of deep grief as shown in Odin`s reaction to his son Balder`s tragic death.

**Harald Fairhair**

Hair was important to the Vikings and for some it had political meaning. The sagas claim that when Harald Hårfagre, or Harald Fairhair as his name has been translated into, decided he wanted to be king of all of Norway and not just the tiny part called Sogn, he declared that he would not cut his hair until he had in fact gathered all the little kingdoms into one large one. His hair was very long but he ended up becoming some kind of over-king and is recognized as the first king of Norway.

The name Fairhair was actually a name he got after his death but it`s the name he is known by today. The story about him letting his name grow is a story from the sagas and had probably little to do with reality. It`s still a story children are taught in schools today and I`m not sure they are told it isn`t true. Why ruin a good story, right?

**5 million Norwegians**

On a different and much more up-to-date note; as of today we are 5 million people living here in Norway. We would only have been 4.4 million people if we hadn`t had the recent immigration to the country. But we would have been 8 million people if not for all the Norwegians who immigrated to America back in the 19th century.

I`m not sure what that has to do with anything but I figured it was a fun fact.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – chapter 12**

**A/N:**

**EDIT**: Apparently some of you got errors and I have no idea why - I couldn`t even access chapter 12 myself. I`ll try to re-upload and see if that will take care of the problems. Arrgh. (And thank you for letting me know, **FiniteAnarchy**!)

It seems all my A/Ns are complaints over FF and now I think I`ve used them all up. I just want to say that I`m sorry most of you didn`t get alerts and that I hope you found the last chapter after all (judging from the reviews you did – thank you!).

I want to thank **Suki59** for helping me with the action scenes in this chapter and for generally whipping my poor English into shape.

I also want to thank **Charlaine Harris** for writing so many great books. She owns all the characters in this story, of course. I`m just sending them back to where they really belong – the Viking age.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

I`d never noticed the smell of the deep pine forests or the sound of the waterfalls along the coastline but now I did. The smells and the sounds all screamed "HOME" and I knew that we would soon see the estuary of the fjord that led to my village.

Hoping to catch any kind of movement – boats, smoke, anything – I was sitting in the prow of the boat. Eric, Jason and Claude were watching behind us and to the sides to make sure we weren`t taken by surprise by anyone. It would have been and irony of Loki dimensions if Felipe`s men caught us in open sea and killed us before we managed to get home and defend our neighbors.

Finally, I could spot the beginning of the fjord. Unfortunately, I could see something else too.

"Fire," I said loud enough for the other people on the boat to hear me but not loud enough to be heard on shore.

The smoke coming from the village at the beginning of the fjord – from Calvin`s village – was more than just from the casual fireplaces in the houses. Even more than if they`d made a huge celebrational bonfire. If Calvin had died while I`d been gone and they`d put him on his ship and set fire to it, there wouldn`t have been this much smoke.

So something was wrong. Very wrong.

We couldn`t see the village yet, hidden as it was behind a small hill. But we knew enough to lower the sails immediately and row the boat to the shore before it was visible from the village.

Very quietly, only talking in low voices – or not at all – we managed to pull the boat ashore and crawl our way up the hill to witness the damage. I was the first one to get a look and the sight that met me had me gasping loudly.

I`d seen several villages burned down, corpses in the roads and pigs running around screaming in fright but this was the first time I`d witnessed it in a village full of people I knew. People I liked.

Blinking a few times to remove the tears that welled up in my eyes, I quickly checked the area for enemies. I felt movement next to me and Eric`s hand fell on mine in the grass.

"Your friends?" he asked.

I nodded and stared at Calvin`s village. The damage had to have been done fairly recently. If we`d sailed faster. Been quicker. Had better wind.

I swallowed and took a deep breath.

That was when I noticed Jason. Eric and I were flat on our stomachs and Claude was crawling his way up to us but Jason was standing on his feet.

No, he was walking … running.

"Crystal!" he yelled in despair. Well, it sounded like a yell to me, trying to be as quiet as possible, but it might just have been a loud whisper.

Before any of us could stop him he was speeding his way down to the village – the village that had just been raided and which could still have warriors in hiding.

I got up too and ran after Jason and I heard Eric and Claude doing the same, Eric cursing while running.

I said a few choice words too but I did it on the inside. Why the Hekla was Jason being so incredibly stupid, running towards a village without knowing what was going to meet him? And why was he shouting for Crystal?

It wasn`t that it surprised me that Jason had been intimate with Calvin`s niece – she`d had sex with plenty of men (and Jason had had sex with plenty of women) – but how could she mean that much to him that he would risk his life for her? How could she mean anything to him? Did any of his conquests mean anything to him?

I thought I knew my brother and now I was running as fast as my short legs could carry me to save someone who acted like a stranger.

Jason had always been rash in battle but this was beyond even him. I tried to speed up, avoiding roots and rocks sticking up from the ground, and scanning the village to make sure we weren`t ambushed in a cowardly way. At some point I`d grabbed my sword and held it in my hand but I noticed to my surprise that Jason was running empty-handed. It was a deep rooted instinct to always carry a weapon in situations like this and for Jason to choose not to …. I wasn`t even sure he`d chosen not to carry a weapon. I wasn`t sure his head was functioning at all. Or his survival instinct.

Coming closer to the village also meant seeing the results of the raid close-up. I hardly looked at the first body we passed but the next one was so brutally slashed open from the throat to the waist, I couldn`t help staring while running by.

We passed the first houses and that was when Jason started shouting in a voice that didn`t sound like him. It was so filled with fear it made me expect the worst when I headed around the corner of the house Jason had disappeared behind.

"Crystal!" he shouted.

I wanted to tell him to shut up. We didn`t know if the raiders were still there. We didn`t know what had happened. But I couldn`t. Jason`s voice was so foreign, I couldn`t tell him to do anything.

"Crystal!" Jason shouted again. He shouted as though he wanted her to come out of hiding but I could quickly tell that no one was hiding in the village. No one was alive apart from a few animals that ran around.

A dog was licking blood from the street and my stomach turned when I noticed the blood came from a body thrown up on a roof.

The raiders had been thorough. Even if some of the people had survived an initial blow or cut, they`d made sure everyone was dead. Uninterrupted as the raid had been, the raiders had had time to slash everyone`s throat.

We were in the middle of the village – the place where they had their village celebrations and communal meals – when I noticed a huge bonfire. The stench was terrible and I saw the remains of corpses. Judging from how well-built the bonfire was – and how the villagers had just been left in the streets – I assumed the raiders had burned their own people.

It could only mean one thing – that they couldn`t bring them home to give them a proper burial.

I looked behind me and saw Eric. I nodded at the fire and I could see he was thinking the same thing.

"I`ll check the shore," he said and off he ran.

A thousand thoughts crashed through my head. I`d gone on this trip to save my own village from these raiders. If they`d been too busy to bring home their dead then it could mean they were already on their way to attack my friends and neighbors.

"Crystal!" Jason shouted again and I looked away from the bonfire and back at my brother.

I saw him rushing into a house repeating Crystal`s name and suddenly his voice broke and an inhuman shriek came out instead. Claude and I ran as quickly as we could but when I entered the house Jason had disappeared into, my heart sank.

Jason was on the floor, his body thrown over a female body. Her dress was open and a huge wound had almost separated her head from her body. Her face bore a grotesque expression but I could tell that it was Crystal.

"Nooooooooo," Jason moaned, his voice so tormented it made me want to throw down my sword and hug him.

But I couldn`t. We still didn`t know what had happened in the village. We didn`t know where the raiders were.

I was also bewildered. Why did Jason have this kind of reaction? What did Crystal mean to him? As far as I knew Jason hadn`t made any marital promises to her. And he had certainly screwed other women. Fidelity was not Jason`s thing.

I walked outside with Claude who looked as surprised as I did. Since we didn`t have time to discuss Jason`s sex life, we just gave each other a look.

Just when we were about to continue our search, Eric came running.

"Their boats are in the harbor," he said.

"What?" I said. "You mean, they`re still here?"

"They must be. The boats have been destroyed. One was burning and two had holes in them. They`ve sunk a few just off shore." Eric looked from me to Claude. "Do you think the people here did that?"

"But why would they?" I asked.

We were quiet for awhile, just looking at each other, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation.

Then Claude spoke. "The last time I was here Calvin showed me how they were going to protect the fjord from raiders. They were going to shoot fire arrows and throw large rocks at enemy boats coming close to the shore."

I stared at Claude. "He never told me," I said.

"He never talked to you after …," Claude started. "He wanted you to know, though. He told me so."

"But they could never throw rocks far enough to make holes in the boat," Eric said.

"You`re used to flatlands, Eric. We have mountains. Calvin`s people wouldn`t have to throw the rocks far – just roll them over the edge," Claude explained. He pointed at the hills looming over the fjord. "There`s a cliff down there that`s high enough and which hangs over parts of the fjord. If they had stored large enough rocks, they could just give them a shove and they would rain down on the boats."

"Which meant the raiders came to Calvin`s village instead of ours," I concluded. "They couldn`t go further."

Claude nodded. "It seems so."

"But where are they now?" I asked and we all looked towards the forest and the mountains separating Calvin`s village from ours.

"There weren`t any longboats in the harbor," Eric said. "Maybe Felipe`s men have taken Calvin`s longboats?"

Claude and I looked at each other and after awhile we both shook our heads.

"Calvin usually kept his longboat in our harbor where it`s more protected from the open sea. They only have the smaller boats here."

Eric nodded. "There were smaller boats in the harbor."

All three of us looked towards the forest again. We could hear the mighty river cutting through it but there were none of the sounds warriors would make. There weren`t any sounds a warrior would make.

There were the sounds from the sounds from the village. The animals squealing. The fires burning. Jason`s moaning and crying.

I thought of the defense of our village. Everything was directed towards the fjord – the place where enemies always came from. No one would expect warriors coming down from the mountains through the forest. Everyone would be taken by surprise.

And killed.

I took a deep breath and looked at Claude. "You stay here with Jason. Eric and I will go after them."

"Jason should get up and fight with us," Claude said.

I pulled Claude back into the house where Jason was draped over Crystal`s body, completely lost from the world. Eric followed us and I could see him shaking his head, clearly drawing the same conclusions I was.

"Then you make him fit to fight and come after us. Help him bury Crystal and help him mourn." My voice was slightly raised.

"But he`s your brother," Claude complained.

"And he`s your cousin. Look after Jason. Do what you can for him and join us when he`s well enough to fight. Eric and I are leaving now."

And with that I turned on my heels and pulled Eric with me.

We`d walked through the whole village before I realized I was still holding his hand. He noticed I was staring at my smaller hand inside his large one and grinned.

"I don`t mind as long as you let go when I need to grab my sword."

I let go as if I`d burned my hand but the feeling of him stayed on for awhile. His calloused hand felt good in mine. Too good.

"Let`s follow the river," I said, my voice much steadier than I would have expected.

We walked in silence, listening to every sound – and for sounds missing. We looked for footprints and other signs of Felipe`s men having walked through here and to determine how long ago it had been. The birds were chirping too happily for Felipe`s men to be very close ahead and the resin in the branches they`d broken on their way had dried up.

Eric and I started moving faster, almost running, to catch up with the warriors ahead of us. We still paid attention to the signs of the forest and we walked as quietly as we could. But we both had a distinct feeling that we were running out of time.

I had, at least, and Eric didn`t seem to be slowing me down.

What was slowing us down was the fact that we tried to avoid using the path animals and humans had made throughout the years – the path Felipe`s soldiers were walking on. We kept listening for the river, knowing the path followed the river and not wanting to lose direction. But we stayed inside the forest. Deep inside.

We`d been walking for quite some time when I felt Eric`s hand on my shoulder. He pointed at the river and at first I thought he`d seen something there. He must have realized I`d misunderstood him because he shook his head.

He whispered, "We need to get something to drink and rest for a little while. We`ll catch up with them soon and we can`t afford to be exhausted when we`re going to fight them."

I nodded. I didn`t want to stop but Eric was right. Too many warriors had lost battles because they`d forgotten to eat and drink.

I leaned over the bank of the river and formed a cup with my hands. I realized I was even thirstier than I`d thought and I gulped down the fresh and very cold water. This river came straight from the glaciers in the mountains and I was grateful to be cooled down by its water.

Eric stood guard and when I was finished drinking, I got up and watched over him while he crouched down and gulped down some water too.

I looked around for something edible, knowing the forest didn`t have much to offer since it was spring. Not unless I wanted to take the time to hunt, which I didn`t. Not for food, at least. I was hunting down Felipe`s men.

Luckily the forest floor was filled with ramsons and I started plucking the leaves. It wouldn`t fill Eric`s or my stomach but it would give us a little strength.

When Eric had finished drinking, I gave him a handful of ramsons and we started chewing while walking.

Day was turning into evening when Eric made a hand gesture that made me stop. He pointed to his nose and I sniffed.

A bonfire.

Felipe`s men had set up camp and they couldn`t be far away.

I smiled to Eric. We`d caught up with them before they`d reached my village. Now we only needed to kill them.

Eric gave me a silent grin. He was looking forward to the battle as well. We were only two and they were … I`d tried to add up their numbers while we`d walked through the forest. They`d come in three longboats which meant at least 60 men. I`d counted about 25 corpses on the bonfire in Calvin`s village.

That left … I counted again … at least 30 men.

Maybe more.

Hopefully less.

We needed to be smart about it since there was no way we could do the honorable thing and rush into their camp and kill them all in one blow. We also couldn`t ambush them with arrows since neither Eric nor I had brought our bows. And I was a lousy shot anyway.

So we needed to take them one at a time and we needed to do it quietly.

We snuck closer, trying to determine where their guards were. We lay low while pointing them out one by one in the light from the bonfire and the last remains of the sun. We pointed at each of them and divided them between us, giving each of us three to kill.

I was just about to go down on my knees to crawl my way up to the first guy when Eric stopped me, pulled me into his body and gave me a deep kiss.

"I`ll see you afterwards," he whispered. "Here or in Valhalla."

I couldn`t help kissing him back.

"I`ll see you afterwards," I repeated. "Here."

"Here," Eric said with a nod and with that he was off.

The first guard was asleep and I silently let my knife glide over his neck, killing him in one quiet blow. The next one was awake but was an easy kill too, having his back turned in my direction. A quick stab to his heart and he was dead too. I moved towards the third one who spotted me just before I killed him – too late for him to notify anyone. His mouth formed a silent O as my sword slid into his stomach and made its way to his chest.

I made my way back to where Eric and I were meeting up but on the way I heard footsteps close to me. At first I thought I`d been discovered but then the footsteps stopped and I heard the distinct sound of a guy getting rid of some of what he`d just drunk.

A guy holding his dick is the easiest target in the world and I managed to kill him without a sound too. I managed to yank his head back and swipe my blade across his throat without a sound and the only though in my head was me, wondering whether his dick would still be out of his trousers when he entered Valhalla. It wasn`t until afterwards I realized that he would be missed soon.

I rushed back to our meeting place and was relieved to find Eric waiting for me. I whispered that we had to act quickly. We snuck up closer to the camp and just when we`d found a good position behind a large rock, we heard them shouting out to the guy I`d killed.

After awhile with no replies – it`s so very hard to talk when your throat has been slit – two of the men gathered their swords and got up to walk in the direction the man they were missing had taken.

Eric and I quickly snuck up on one each, grabbed them from behind, covering the mouths with our hands to prevent them from alarming the rest of the men, and slit their throats. One could almost have thought we`d rehearsed it because we looked like each other`s shadows – the killing twins.

We also looked pretty much alike – apart from our gender and size. Blond braids bathed in blood and both sporting a murderous grin. At least, I hoped my grin was as menacing as Eric`s. Wouldn`t do to walk around with a nice auntie-smile while killing people en masse.

Quickly we went back to our hiding place, hoping that more men would leave the camp in small groups. We couldn`t fight all of them at once, but we might just get away with killing one at a time.

We heard singing and drunken singing from the camp – something that told us not everyone had realized what had happened. But we also heard movement closer to us – this time by someone who didn`t shout out.

Eric and I looked at each other and left the hiding place, going in different directions. My blood was rushing in my veins and it felt as if I could hear everything, see everything. I knew a guy was just behind me but also that he hadn`t seen me. He was walking in my direction so I crouched down behind a bush and when he`d walked past me, I jumped up and knocked him down with the handle of my knife.

I steadied him when he landed and quickly slit his throat.

Suddenly, I heard a sound. Someone called out in alarm and everyone in the camp was up orders were barked out and it seemed people ran in all directions. Orders were barked out and people ran in all directions.

Shit.

I couldn`t see Eric but I quickly found a hiding place, hoping I would still be able to kill a few men one by one.

My first chance came with a guy who came very close, scanning the ground but not seeing my. I realized that all the men had been staring into the fire and therefore were night blind whereas I could take advantage of the little twilight left in the forest and could see fairly well.

Not caring whether or not I was making noise, I sheathed my knife and grabbed my sword instead. It was time for the big weapons.

The man close to me yelled out when he saw me but that was the last thing he did before his head left his neck.

I quickly ran through the forest to find myself a new place to stay far away from the man I`d killed. His cry had drawn a large crowd but one of the men was slower than the rest and I killed him the way I`d killed his mate.

I heard sounds from the other side of the camp and figured Eric was as lucky as I`d been. Or as talented.

I gave myself a quick praise for the number of men I`d killed. Unfortunately there`s an old saying that pride comes before fall and I heard a murmur close to me.

Using my mental battle skills I searched the surroundings and knew I had five men closing in on me in a circle. Luckily that circle had one huge hole and I quickly darted towards the gap between two of the five men.

I felt some of the other men rushing me from behind so I sped up. Just as I thought I`d made it I felt something around my legs. I fell – but not to the forest floor. I fell into something hard but yet flexible.

All five of the men – and a hundred more it seemed from the weight of them – jumped on top of me, holding my arms and legs. I couldn`t move and realized they`d used a net.

A net to catch a warrior!

"Cowards!" I shouted.

Then I had a hand over my mouth and though I tried to bite it but couldn`t manage. I was kicked and beaten and someone tried to pull me up while the rest of them were on top of me. I couldn`t breathe but there and then it didn`t seem important.

Who needed air when one was trying to get out of a net? A net! I just couldn`t fathom that anyone would use such a sissy weapon. Warriors used swords or axes or spears or even bows and arrows. But a net?

My internal outrage was interrupted when I was pulled up to stand on my feet. The hand left my mouth but I had nothing to say. It occurred to me that Eric was still free and I wasn`t going to make him worry about me.

Unfortunately someone else had the same thoughts – only reversed.

"We have your friend!" he shouted into the forest. "We`ll kill him if you don`t come out with your hands over your head."

"Don`t do it, Eric!" I quickly yelled before the hand was back on my mouth and I had a fist to my stomach.

Unfortunately my yell made them realize one important thing. That I wasn`t a "he" at all. I was a "she." They grinned when they discovered my gender and their shouts to Eric became more taunting.

"Your whore will warm my bed if you don`t come to save her!" one guy shouted.

"Her tits fit my hands perfectly. Her cunt will fit my dick even better!" another one yelled. I didn`t have anyone`s hands on my breasts but Eric couldn`t know that.

I prayed to all the gods that Eric would leave me alone. I would rather they killed me and he survived than their catching us both. Judging from what Calvin`s village looked like, we would both be dead if we were caught.

Unfortunately the gods weren`t listening. I felt Eric moving towards the group that was holding me and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to divert their attention by struggling and moving like an eel. My movements were rewarded by kicks and hits but I still managed to keep the guys watching me instead of the forest where Eric was.

Eric came closer and closer and I almost thought he could manage to free me as none of the men holding me captive had noticed he was crawling towards us.

That was when I felt men behind Eric – men Eric hadn`t noticed – and I pushed and turned my head to warn him but I was held too tightly, the hand on my mouth almost suffocating me.

A lot of movement in Eric`s direction made tears well up in my eyes. Even before someone yelled, "We`ve got him!" I knew Eric was caught.

They`d used a net on him as well, the craven bastards.

There was a lot of commotion, men searching the forest to see if we were more than two, and then we were pulled towards the camp.

In the middle of the camp, next to the bonfire, a man rose and looked at us with hate in his eyes. He was one of those men you wouldn`t notice if he hadn`t been the one giving the orders. He was short and compact and had curly, dark hair. Some might call him attractive if they looked closely but only his mother would say he was handsome.

Eric was pulled up next to me and I heard him gasp when he saw the man staring at us.

I, on the other hand, didn`t have a clue to who he was.

The man gave us a lopsided grin.

"Eric the Northman," he said. "And I suppose this is your little wife?"

Eric nodded, trying to move closer to me. I wasn`t sure if he thought he could protect me or if he just wanted to be near me but the movement touched something inside me.

"But it seems she doesn`t know who I am," the man said. "Maybe you should tell her?"

Eric turned to me and nodded. "Sookie," he said. "This is Victor the …." Eric paused. "Victor is Felipe`s foster son."

Apparently Eric had told a great joke because Victor started laughing. And it was the kind of laughter that made my skin turn into little goose bumps all over.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

This chapter was twice the usual length and it may have to last for two weeks because next week I`ll be on Iceland (YAY!) and I`m not sure I`ll be bringing my laptop. But I`ll certainly look for inspiration for this story – Iceland is not called The Saga Island for nothing. This is my third trip to Iceland but the first one with my family. I`m looking so much forward to it :-)

**Viking settling in new areas **

According to the sagas Iceland was settled by Norwegian fugitives from Harald Fairhair (I mentioned him in the last chapter). But fleeing your home country was just one reason for settling in new areas.

Historians believed for a long time that the reason the Vikings settled in new areas – like Turkey, Ukraine, Belorus, Russia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Canada and several other countries outside the Nordic countries – was because the population grew and some had to move so they wouldn`t all die from hunger. Almost like the Scandinavians in the late 19th and early 20th century who moved to North-America to escape poverty back home.

But historians today dispute this theory since there was no hunger and there were plenty of fields to farm.

Here are other reasons why the Vikings settled abroad:

**Trade**

The Vikings were traders (and farmers) more than raiders and some probably liked the areas where they traded or they found it a good idea to stay close to the people they traded with.

**Better boats**

The longboats made it easier to travel to new parts of the world and therefor also easier to settle there.

**A change of climate**

In the Viking age the climate turned warmer and it was therefore easier for the Vikings to settle in cold areas like Greenland and Iceland.

**The kings came into power**

During the Viking age the kings in Scandinavia grabbed more and more power and the people who disagreed with the kings had to escape or they would find themselves a head shorter.

**Christianity moving north**

A large part of the refugees from Scandinavia were trying to get away from a more and more powerful church – a church that gave the Vikings a choice between converting or losing their lives.

And there`s always the possibility the Vikings settled abroad because it was nicer there – though we Scandinavians find that VERY hard to believe :-D

**Have a nice Easter!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – Chapter 13**

**A/N:**

The wait for this chapter was a little longer than usual but I hope you`ll find the chapter worth the wait.

I want to thank **Suki59** for being such a great beta and friend and if I could talk to **Charlaine Harris** I would thank her for creating such wonderful characters. Less than a month now until the next book. YAY!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

I wasn`t sure what brought me more pain – having been beaten thoroughly or listening to Eric going through the same treatment. Right now I was experiencing both.

Trying to keep my head cool, I ran my fingers over my skin to see if there was any damage I hadn`t accounted for yet. My fingers had suffered the worst from the beating and I couldn`t really use them.

Two of my fingers were broken. Luckily, they were both on my left hand and not my sword hand but they were still excruciatingly painful. My scalp was sore and I could imagine had bald spots from having been dragged by my hair. I`d been kicked in my ribs but I didn`t think anything was broken. I was bruised all over and my tunic had been torn in the front.

When they`d dragged me away from Eric I`d been certain I was going to be raped. A true warrior would never rape his victims – there was no honor in that. But these men had used nets to catch Eric and me and had therefore proven themselves honorless.

They`d started out tearing my tunic in the front and had groped my breasts while commenting loudly on their size and shape. I`d tried to kick them but had kept my mouth shut. I knew what they wanted – they wanted to hurt Eric with my cries. This was what cowards did. They hurt the wife or the kids to break a man`s spirit. I wasn`t sure Eric would be tormented by my screams of terror but I was not taking any chances.

But then the men had surprised me and had let me keep my pants on. It could have been because they`d realized I wasn`t going to cry or yell out my pain if they raped me or it could have been because the men had some honor after all.

They`d beaten me up but that was expected. It was painful but as long as I managed to get my broken fingers to heal without becoming crooked or stiff, there would be no lasting damage.

Not that I was sure I would survive the next day.

I mentally shook my head. There was no point in thinking about tomorrow. I was alive tonight and that was what mattered.

They`d chained me to a tree far enough away from the camp for me not to be able to hear what was said there. I couldn`t see the bonfire but the night wasn`t very dark, what with summer approaching, so I could see people walking to and from the camp.

To and from wherever they were hurting Eric.

If I couldn`t follow what was going on at the camp, I was close enough to hear the thuds and grunts whenever Eric was hit.

Every grunt was … painful.

I kept being reminded of Eric at the atonement he`d arranged. The pain he`d received there and how he`d born it. It had been awful watching him being hurt like that but somehow it was … worse now.

To tear my mind away from Eric`s pain – my ears back from that place deep in the forest where Eric was tormented – I ripped a piece of cloth from my tunic, pulled my broken fingers straight and tied the cloth around them.

I wanted to scream out my pain but I welcomed it too. For a moment or two I didn`t hear Eric. His grunts were gone and I wasn`t afraid they were going to kill him.

Because that was what had me swallow hard. What if they killed Eric?

I had imagined they would have killed us both immediately but they didn`t. They hadn`t killed me, at least. They`d beaten me up but I`d been beaten before.

What if they had some kind of plan for me? A plan that didn`t include Eric? And now they were killing him. Slowly.

I gave my fingers an extra pull just to make sure I`d set them straight. And to clear my thoughts.

If Eric were dead – if they`d killed Eric – I would deal with it.

At least that was what my brain told me. My level-headed and very sensible brain. Problem was, the rest of me didn`t agree. Parts of me wanted to go into a panic at the thought of Eric being killed.

My brain didn`t understand what was going on. Not at all. Hadn`t I rejected Eric several times? Hadn`t I decided he was too vain, he thought too highly of himself, he was too … ?

That was as far as my brain got because my ears heard a new sound. There was still grunting but no more thuds. Taunting words were said and the men saying them came closer and closer. So did the grunting sounds.

They were moving Eric. Were they bringing him to me? I cursed my ability to predict movements because it was so limited. I could only predict movements when I was fighting people and right now I wanted to be able to "hear" their plans for Eric.

I held my breath and listened with everything my ears could muster. I squinted through the forest to see if I could see anything. Every muscle in my body was on alert. What was going on?

They hadn`t killed Eric. His grunts told me he was alive. But how much had they hurt him? And where were they taking him?

Suddenly I saw them coming closer, three men carrying someone – no, not someone, Eric – between them. They weren`t as much carrying him as dragging him.

I`d been beaten up right here where I`d been tied up so I hadn`t had to walk after they`d hurt me. I was fairly sure I could, though, and therefore it pained me to see the state Eric was in.

Coming over to where I was, they threw Eric to the ground. I`d been chained to the tree and now they were doing the same to Eric. It surprised me that they were carrying this much iron chain around with them when rope was so much cheaper and easier to carry.

Of course, rope was easier to untie as well.

It all went too quickly. I just sat there, staring at Eric lying on the ground with his eyes closed. When Eric and I were both shackled to the tree, the men went in the direction of the camp, not even bothering with one last taunt.

Apparently we were nothing. Little bugs they`d caught in their palms. Bugs they would probably want to hurt more later. Tomorrow.

But this was tonight and I needed to see how Eric was doing. Was he even conscious?

I leaned down to listen to his breathing and was relieved to hear shallow intakes of air. He looked awful, though. Blood all over his face and his nose would never be the same after having met someone`s knuckles.

I ran my hands down his face, brushed his hair away and carefully touched his nose, trying to assess if it was broken. It was. After taking a deep breath I figured it was better to mend his broken nose while he was unconscious and wouldn`t feel the pain than waiting for him to come around.

I quickly yanked his nose back in place and was met by Eric`s very large blue eyes staring at me.

"Ouch, Sookie. Don`t you think Victor and his men have hurt me enough?" he hissed.

"I just wanted to fix your nose. I`m sure you don`t want to be known as Eric the Crooked Nose?"

Eric got up into a sitting position and carefully touched the facial extremity in question. He sat like that for awhile. Then he looked at me with a lopsided smile. "I`m sorry to say that your husband isn`t as handsome as he used to be."

I laughed a little. "Lucky for you I don`t particularly like handsome men."

That made him move closer to me. "Really?"

I rolled me eyes but I still had a smile on my lips. "Really."

The forest floor was getting darker but I could still make out Eric`s facial expression and it made me warm all over.

Tomorrow we could be dead. Actually, tomorrow we probably would be dead but tonight it was Eric and me and our battered bodies.

I let my hand glide down his face again, carefully avoiding his nose and the eye that was quickly swelling. Eric did the same to me and we just looked at each other, some kind of mutual understanding flowing back and forth between us.

"We`re quite the sight," I said after awhile.

"I would say that we are quite the couple," he replied and for some reason that made me happy.

It was probably the knowledge that the _Norns_ had cut the thread of our lives and that the last bit of it was being woven that made me more receptive to Eric`s charms. Or maybe it was the broken nose. I leaned forward and kissed it very carefully and heard him take a deep breath through it, either from fear that I would accidentally hurt him or because …

His shackled hands were on each side of my face and he tilted my head slightly to the side. Then he kissed me.

To just state that Eric kissed me would be an understatement because this wasn`t a kiss. It was two pairs of lips meeting, two tongues finding each other, but it was so much more. It was a wave of emotions – desires – and I wanted to give into each and every one of them.

Eric`s hand went from my cheek, down my neck to pulling my ruined tunic to the side, and his palm caressed the side of my breast very carefully. I winced slightly because of the bruises there but then some deeper emotions took over and I leaned into his touch which grew more insisting.

My own hands had found Eric`s shoulders, his neck and were now copying the movements of his hands by moving down his muscular chest. I knew I couldn`t pull his tunic over his head – his shackled hands would stop the undressing – but I desperately wanted to touch his naked torso. Kiss it. So I pulled up his tunic enough for me to lean down and lick his nipple. I kissed him and nibbled a little too while my fingers followed the trail of blond hair from his chest down his stomach.

"Oh, Sookie," Eric whispered, his voice sounding hoarse.

I pulled away and looked at him but when I leaned in for a kiss Eric went for my breast instead and started kissing and sucking on first one of them and then the other.

How I happened to end up lying on my back on the ground, I wasn`t sure, but I had Eric on top of me, kissing every bruise on my chest and sucking on my nipples. He kissed his way up and licked my collarbone. Then he looked up at my face.

"I want you so much, Sookie," he said.

"I want you too," I whispered back and with that statement our more frenzied movements began.

Even though our shackles and the pain of our beatings hindered us, they also ignited our desire as we managed to pull off our pants and boots and Eric pulled my tunic to the side. Soon I was almost bare and Eric was as naked as he could be, his tunic pulled up to his waist.

I`d expected Eric to rush it, to sink himself deep into me the moment my pants were lying next to me. It was what I wanted too because it felt as if I couldn`t wait another breath for him to be inside me. But Eric had other plans, plans that suddenly seemed even better than the ones I`d had.

"Touch me," he whispered and I knew he didn`t mean his torso or his butt because I`d been touching both of those plenty already.

Eric was on his side next to me, so close he was almost leaning over me, and I could feel him against my hip. I leaned down and found him standing straight – long and hard as he was. I closed my hand around him, enjoying the feeling of his pulsing in my palm, while Eric`s hand went down between my legs.

His long fingers glided up and down, circling what needed to be circled and dived inside where I wanted more of him – and soon. He moved his fingers in the rhythm my hand had on his cock and soon we were both making little noises of enjoyment.

I was getting close and I could tell Eric was too and just as the thought that I wanted Eric inside me – that I wanted him to truly fuck me – entered my brain, he quickly moved between my legs and pushed himself deeply into me.

My legs went up to land on his hips while he ground himself into me. I met his movements and had a small moment of regret that Eric and I hadn`t done this before because he was, by far, the best lover I`d ever had. And we`d only just begun.

My hands went to his head, my fingers touched his scalp, they ran through his hair, and I pulled him down for a kiss. When his hand touched my breast again it started a numb feeling on my skin that expanded and it felt as if my skin were touched by thousands of tiny explosions.

Soon the tiny explosions turned into one larger one and I groaned into Eric`s mouth when I came with a force I`d never felt before. Eric ground himself into me two times, three times, four times more and then his body went rigid and he collapsed over me.

Eric was heavy but he felt like he weighed nothing on top of me because I wanted him closer. I wanted to feel more of him. All of him. In spite of having recently been beaten.

I wanted us to lie like this forever, my brain empty of thoughts, my sex filled with his cock.

I was happy.

Which was strange considering I was shackled and would probably meet my death tomorrow.

"Oh, Sookie," Eric whispered into my ear and in those two words he expressed my feelings – only I would probably have said "Oh, Eric," instead.

He pulled back a little, but stayed inside me. And when he rolled to his side he dragged me with him, still deeply rooted inside me. Not as deeply as he had been, of course. Even Eric`s large member shrank after sex. But I enjoyed having him there and he apparently did too because he made sure he wasn`t leaving accidentally.

We lay there for a long time, looking into each other`s eyes, caressing each other lazily with our fingers, the soft clanking of our shackles turning into a nice melody and not the foreboding they were.

I gently leaned forward and give him a kiss. I figured we needed to talk about tomorrow but when I pulled back from the kiss, Eric was the first one to speak.

"I`m glad we`re now truly husband and wife," he said.

"Why?" I asked, though, deep inside, I was glad too.

"Because, tomorrow, if we die, the Valkyries will know. They`ll let us live in the same house, share the same bed."

I smiled, though it was our imminent death he was talking about. "I thought you were an optimist. We may not die tomorrow."

"I am," he said and kissed my nose. "And I can`t think of a better future than to go to Valhalla with you. And if we don`t die, we`ll just have to settle for a life together here."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**  
>I hope you liked this chapter.<p>

I just came home from a week on Iceland. If you`ve never been there – go! If you`ve been there, you know what I`m talking about. Iceland is probably the most extraordinary country in the world. The nature, the history, the people.… It`ll take your breath away!

As you probably know, the Viking age is part of my heritage but I`ve mainly read the Danish and Norwegian part of it. Going to Iceland gave me a chance to learn more of the Viking age seen from "The Saga Island" as they call themselves. It`s all part of the same history, of course, but some of the stories I read there were new to me and I will try to retell them here.

I know I have several readers from Iceland and I welcome any thoughts from you – shout out if I`ve gotten it all wrong!

**Melkorka Myrkjartansdottir**

I ran into the story of the Celt princess Melkorka Myrkjartansdottir in the small Saga Museum in Perlan in Reykjavik and I just have to retell it.

First some background: Iceland was mainly settled by Vikings fleeing the ever expanding kings in Norway and Denmark. At least that`s the truth when it came to the male population of Iceland. But genealogical research has revealed that 50% of the earliest women on Iceland were Celts – most of them from Ireland.

These women didn`t come to Iceland voluntary but were raided and sold to men looking for bed-slaves, mistresses and wives. The difference between these three groups may have been in name only.

One of these Celtic women was Melkorka. She was only fifteen when she was taken into slavery in Norway. Ten years later Höskuldur Dala-Kollsson went to Hordaland in Norway to buy timber. Apparently he forgot his plans when he saw Melkorka because he ended up buying her instead.

Melkorka was a mute but she was still more expensive than most slaves because she was so extraordinarily beautiful.

Höskuldur took her home to Iceland and in the winter she gave birth to his son Olafur Pa – a son Höskuldur loved very much.

When Olafur Pa was a couple of years old Höskuldur came over Melkorka talking to her son, telling him he was the grandson of an Irish king called Myrkjartan. Höskuldur was so amazed that Melkorka could speak and of her heritage that he immediately changed her status from slave to wife and gave her her own farmstead.

This was the whole story of Melkorka but my imagination started spinning on this. Imagine her life – living as the daughter of a king, becoming a slave at the age of fifteen, then being sold again at the age of 25, getting a family with a man she hasn`t chosen but who apparently treated her well and then being acknowledged as a princess and wife later on.

And the whole time pretending to be a mute. It would take a special kind of person to manage that. That story really took my breath away.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 14**

**A/N:**

Wow, that last chapter got quite a reception. Thank you!

Some of you had questions and I`ll try to answer them after the chapter.

I want to thank **Suki59** for being such a great beta. She is also an amazing writer and I can recommend her stories if you haven`t already read them!

**Charlaine Harris** owns all the characters in this story. And now she apparently revealed the title of the last book in the Sookie Stackhouse series: _Deadly Ever After_. I just want to say that I love the title!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14<br>**

When the sun rose I could see how truly beaten up Eric was. I probably didn`t look any better and we gave each other a little smile.

Sometime during the night we`d managed to pull our pants on again but not until we`d made love one more time.

We`d moved a little away from each other, not wanting our captors to know how we`d spent the night. No point in giving them something extra to taunt us over or extra knowledge they could use against us.

My whole body screamed from pain from all the bruises I`d received the night before but the soreness between my legs made me feel so incredibly relaxed. I knew there was a real chance I would meet death during the day – and probably in some terrible way – but I couldn`t help shrugging at the danger in my imminent future.

Amazing sex would do that to you.

Who would have thought that I, Sookie the Shieldmaiden, would be so unconcerned about dying just because I`d had a handsome – well, a little less handsome what with the broken nose – man between my legs?

If I`d been in my normal state of mind I would probably have contemplated whether I`d only had sex with Eric because I`d been sure I would die today. I`d rejected him ever since I`d met him and with good reason. Eric was born into this world to kill people and break hearts. I was fine with the killing – I admired him for that – but I`d never been too keen on having my heart broken.

But I wasn`t in my normal state of mind. My state of mind consisted of glancing at Eric and remembering all the details of last night`s activities with him. Not worrying about death and certainly not worrying about what kind of man Eric was.

I smiled at Eric`s suggestion that we would be housed together in Valhalla. I could live with that. Well, I could die with that, to be precise. An eternity of drinking, fighting and having sex with Eric. It didn`t sound bad at all.

He might flirt with the Valkyries but I would just have to kill him every time he did. In Valhalla he would rise from the dead every night and I would keep our bed warm for him.

My state of mind was definitely off. I hadn`t considered a future with any man since my teenage infatuation with Claude and here I was thinking about keeping Eric in my bed every night, even if it was after our death.

I gave Eric an extra smile but when I heard people moving in our direction I turned my back to him. It was better they thought we`d had a falling out. I didn`t want them using one of us to get to the other as they`d tried last night.

"Aaaw," a voice said and I was fairly sure it belonged to Victor. "Did the love birds have a quarrel?"

Two men came over and pulled me up. They unchained me from the tree and tied my arms to my waist instead. I glanced at Victor to see if I could get any clues as to what he had planned for us but all he did was look at Eric with an evil smile on his lips. I thought it looked evil, at least. For all I knew, he was thinking about his wife and how much he missed her.

I knew Eric and I were going to die. Or rather, I expected it. I just wondered how they were going to kill us. I must admit that I hoped they would kill me first because I wasn`t sure I could watch them end Eric`s life. Not just because he`d come to mean something to me but mainly because Eric was not the kind of person who was supposed to die. He was too … Eric.

Eric oozed life and I couldn`t fathom death staring out of those blue eyes.

Eric was pulled up too and soon we were both being pulled towards the river. Would they throw us into the deep river and let us drown – if we weren`t crushed into the rocks or died from hypothermia?

I`d always imagined dying by my sword – from the blow of a sword. Maybe an axe to the head or a spear in my chest but always from a weapon. Being thrown into the river seemed dishonorable which was probably why Victor would choose that as our death.

I could hear the river as we stumbled through the forest. The hand on my upper arm held me in a bruising grip but kept me upright when my feet tripped on roots and rocks. Soon I could not only hear the river, I could see it too.

I glanced at Eric and noticed he`d lost some of his natural tan. He wasn`t looking forward to being thrown into the river any more than I was. Then his trademark smile was back and I appreciated it. Why die in fear when one could smile all the way to Valhalla?

But Victor didn`t push us into the river. Instead he nodded at three of his men who pulled me up the river while the rest of them, Victor included, stayed behind.

What were they going to do? Throw me in the river upstreams so that Eric could watch me drown as I went by?

The river had been deep where we`d left Eric but now it widened out and became shallower. We walked for awhile more, the river now very shallow and wide, and suddenly the men pulled me out in the river. Not to drown, though. We were crossing the river where it was only thigh deep and though I was struggling with the balance what with the slippery rocks and my arms tied to my body, we made it to the other side where the men began walking me down along the river again.

The river was freezing and my legs were cold but the water had given me new strength too. It had lessened the pain in my legs and cleared my head.

I was at a loss as to what they`d planned to do to me. We`d walked up the river, crossed it and now we were walking down again. Were they trying to confuse me to death?

To my very large surprise they pulled me all the way down the river to the place across from where Eric had been standing all along. He looked as astonished as I probably did and even gave me a shrug as to say he didn`t understand what was going on.

Victor`s men knew what they were doing, though. As soon as we`d come down to stand across the river from one another, Victor and his men started throwing the iron chain Eric and I had been shackled up with last night to the men standing next to me.

When they caught the chain – they needed four tries – they untied my hands, pulled me to the brink of the river and wrapped the chain tightly around my waist under my tunic, fastening it with a lock.

I looked up and saw how they pulled Eric close to the river as well and locked the other end of the chain around his waist, as tightly as mine was. We both had a large lock hanging down our stomachs.

Eric and I looked at each other and then at the chain that was stretched out between us. If either of us took two steps backwards, the other one would fall into the river and drown.

"I see you`ve both realized the situation I`ve put you in." Victor stood at the river bank and shouted to make sure I could hear it too. "One of you will have to kill the other to survive."

I saw Eric`s eyes widen but before either of us could say anything, Victor held up a key. "I`m sorry, Sookie. I`m going to give Eric a little help. He is a great warrior and it would be a shame if he were the one to die so I`m putting the key to Eric`s lock back here." Victor walked ten steps – he counted each of them out loud – behind Eric and dropped the key to the ground and then he came back to stand next to Eric. "If Eric manages to pull you into the river, he only has to make it back to the key to release himself of the chain. That way your weight won`t pull him into the river as well."

Victor smiled at Eric who looked as if he were trying very hard to kill Victor with his eyes.

"But I don`t want you to cheat, Eric. You might think you could pull your wife into the river and all the way to the other side. It would be hard but maybe not entirely impossible for a strong man such as yourself. So I`ll erase that idea from your mind once and for all.

Victor nodded at one of his men who walked over to Eric with a large club. Another man came over to hold Eric`s left arm out in from of him. The man with the club lifted it and to my horror he hit Eric`s arm – and hard. Eric yelled out in pain and I could see how his arm looked … wrong.

"Now you can`t save Sookie," Victor said with a grin. Even over the sound from the river I could hear Eric`s groan of pain, though he was doing his best to fight it.

And with that all the men on both sides of the river started walking upstream.

I had not seen any of this coming. Usually I could predict any move, everything my enemies were about to do in battle. But all of this had been a huge surprise for me. And Victor and his men leaving us here, chained on each side of the river, forced to kill each other to survive, was the biggest surprise of them all. I`d have thought Victor would have wanted to watch it happen. That he would have relished seeing the pain he was causing.

Instead, Victor and his men walked up the river – towards my village. I stared after them.

That was when it happened. Eric turned his head and looked. He checked to see where they key was. How far away it was. If he could reach it.

Up until that turn of his head, I`d imagined we were together in this. That we would find a way for us both to survive this so that I could help Eric with his broken arm and we could get to my village.

But with Eric looking back I wasn`t so sure.

I focused on reading his mind, trying to decipher what he was planning on doing. I could feel myself hyperventilating from concentrating so hard, from being nervous about what Eric was going to do.

I did not want to be killed by Eric.

Then it hit me. I could take two steps backwards just as much as Eric could. Yes, he was stronger and heavier and I might be dragged down in the river since Victor hadn`t been so kind as to give me a key, but I could pull Eric down, let him drown and then walk (dragging Eric`s body) back to the place where we`d crossed the river, get back to the other side, hoist Eric`s body up to the ground and unlock myself from him.

I toyed with the idea for a short moment, mainly to tell myself that Eric wasn`t the only one with a choice here, but realized that, of course, I couldn`t do that. I might have the power to do it but I couldn`t kill him.

Eric, on the other hand, could.

Maybe.

What did I know about him? Really know? I`d found myself sort-of-married to him to avoid a marriage to Andre Beardless, but how had Eric known Andre`s reasons for visiting my village? Why had he offered marriage?

Why had he flirted with me in the first place? Tried so hard to manipulate me into coming home with him?

I took a breath through my nose. Inhaled deeply.

I was a fighter, not a thinker. Give me ten enemies and a sword and I would do my best to kill them all but this was beyond me. I`d never aspired to leadership because it involved thinking in many layers. It involved deceit and manipulation and that was just not what I was put on this earth for.

I wasn`t stupid; I just preferred the straight-forwardness of battle.

And yet, here I was, my lover standing on the other side of a cold river, holding the key to my death – and I couldn`t strike him with my sword. I couldn`t fight my way out of this.

We stood there for awhile, looking at each other. I could see Eric was in pain from his arm but he couldn`t seem to form words. And neither could I.

Eric couldn`t pull me over the strong river with his broken arm; the river was too wide farther up for us to be able to make it to the place where we could cross it and … that was when it hit me.

I could pull Eric over.

Victor had been so sure I couldn`t so he hadn`t bothered breaking any of my limbs apart from the fingers his men had broken the night before; he`d been convinced I was too weak.

But I wasn`t. Sword fighting built muscles and I knew I was strong.

I knew I could do this. I could pull Eric to my side of the river, we could cross the river and then we could go back down and retrieve the key.

Or we could just stay tied up.

I smiled.

Eric raised his eyebrow.

"Jump in. I`ll pull you over," I shouted at him.

He looked at me for a little while and I could almost hear his mind working. Eric was a fighter too. Like me, he wasn`t stupid but having to consider whether I was going to betray him or not – I could see that he hated having to think those kinds of thoughts through.

He lifted his right arm to the chain between us and I dug my feet in the ground just to be on the safe side but then I noticed how he was trying to lift his left arm, the broken one, and he couldn`t.

He looked back again but this time not at the key. He looked at the forest behind him. Then he turned his head back with what I imagined was a resigned look on his face. What had he hoped to do? What was he planning?

I held my breath, knowing that if Eric pulled at me hard and suddenly, I would be down in the river and dead before you could say "Eric the Traitor" or at least before you could say "Eric the Double-Crosser" since that name was slightly longer.

And I wouldn`t see it coming. That was the hardest part of all of this. Eric could pull me into the water and I wouldn`t know until I was wet and cold and very dead because he`d somehow managed to circumvent my ability to predict people`s moves.

"Jump in," I shouted again, trying hard not to sound desperate.

He looked at me but never insulted me by asking if I was sure I could pull him to the other side just as I never insulted him by saying that his broken arm prevented him from doing the same to me.

His chest moved as he took a deep breath and again when he released it.

"Are you ready?" he asked and I grabbed the chain to show him I was.

He then jumped as far into the river as he could and I pulled while taking steps backwards. I leaned back to give myself more momentum and grabbed length by length of chain to pull him closer. I knew I had to work quickly or Eric would die. I really didn`t want that to happen.

"I`m putting you on a diet," I mumbled to myself when the muscles in my upper arms screamed from the pain of pulling harder and faster than what they were built for, but my efforts were rewarded when I first saw the blond head break the water.

I had no idea if Eric was dead or alive but at least he was almost on my side of the river.

I pulled again. And again.

Eric was getting heavier now and I was getting more worn out but I pushed the pain aside. I`d told Eric to jump into the river. I would pull him out of it. I didn`t understand Victor`s elaborate plan but I knew this. I knew how to make my body work hard to achieve a clear goal.

I knew how I could save Eric`s life. A life he`d trusted me with when he`d made the jump.

I couldn`t pull on the chain any more and I knew why. Eric was on my side of the river and I needed to grab his body. I needed to get him out of the water and onto the ground.

Soon I realized that I needed to bring him back to life because it was a very pale and lifeless Eric I pulled out of the river.

Quickly, I dragged him up to lie on his back on the ground and after having established that he was breathing, I rubbed his body all over. It seemed like a repetition of my actions from when he`d almost drowned after the battle where we`d met each other so I couldn`t help leaning down and whispering, "I can`t keep pulling you out of cold water."

Suddenly Eric`s unbroken arm was around my waist and I was pulled down to lie on top of him. He was cold and he was wet but I didn`t mind.

He rolled us over until he was on top and soon his lips were on mine, his tongue deep inside my mouth.

Eric was definitely alive.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I hope you liked this chapter!

I just love any questions you might have to the story and to the Viking age. I`ll try to reply some of them here:

**FFFbone asked**: _What I was wondering about, is how did Melkorla Myrkjartansdottir become a slave? She was the daughter of a King?_

I`m not sure how she became a slave but I imagine she was taken on a Viking raid. Whether her slavers knew she was royal or not, I don`t know, but it probably didn`t matter too much to them. A person who was taken would be a slave if the person who took him/her decided so. But as the story of Melkorla showed, slaves could be treated almost like wives. Melkorla`s owner acknowledged her son as his and he seemed genuinely interested in her well-being, having been infatuated enough to buy her instead of the timber he was supposed to buy.

What I would really love to know was how she lived those ten years in Hordaland (in what is now Norway) without speaking. Did she have children there? Was she treated well? Why was she sold?

Why were the Vikings so incredibly bad at writing down things so one might have known and why hasn`t anyone invented a time machine yet? Arrrgh!

**The Sleepy Wolf asked: **_Was it a custom for people to have a characteristic added to their name, i.e Sookie the Shieldmaiden._

Most people would have two sets of names but the first name would be the same.

The "official" name would be their first name and then the first name of their father + son/daughter. If you were called Bjørn and your father`s name was Erik, then your name would be Bjørn Eriksen or Erikson/Eriksson depending on where you lived. If your name was Bjørk and your father`s name was still Erik, then your name would be Bjørk Eriksdatter or Bjørk Eriksdottir depending on where you lived.

But most people would also have a more personal name. It could be a description of their looks like Harald Bluetooth, a description of their way of living like Erik Bloodaxe or Olav the Holy, their profession or it could be something else entirely.

These names could change all through their lives – Gorm the Old probably wasn`t given that name when he was 19 – and they could change even after they`d died. This was one of the reasons why one`s legacy was very important to the Vikings. No one wanted to go over in history as Brynjulf the Coward.

I`m in PR and we usually say the Vikings are our true ancestors since they were so great at it. Not only did they manage to explain a person in just one word but they also had a major PR stunt. They were the ones to come up with the name Greenland. If you`ve ever been there you`ll know that green is not the first color that comes to mind. Apparently, or so the sagas say, Greenland was given that tempting name to lure more settlers to move there.

The Vikings were clever PR people!


	15. Chapter 15

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 15**

**A/N**

I was entirely blown away by the reception you gave the last chapter. Thank you very much!

I also want to thank **Suki59** for being such a great beta. And after having been in hibernation for way too long, she posted a story today. Go read it – it`s so very sweet!

Her story is an early pimp for the new contest **Northwoman** has started up. Well, new-old contest. It`s the same contest she ran with **Northman Maille** last year, a contest that was one of the most successful SVM fanfic contests ever. Do you have a favorite song? Write a fanfic about it and enter it to the **I Write the Songs** contest.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

Eric was very quiet and first I assumed he was busy biting back the pain in his arm. I`d managed to tie a bandage, using a branch to help keeping it from getting bent or rebroken. My tunic would never be the same, torn down the middle and missing large parts that I`d used for my fingers and Eric`s arm. His tunic wasn`t as long as it used to be either. I`d needed plenty of cloth to make sure his arm was getting as much support as possible.

But now I realized Eric wasn`t just quiet. He was grumpy. Or angry. Or in a very sour mood.

His huffing gave him away. And his grunting.

I wanted to ask him how he was doing but you don`t poke at an angry bear so I kept my mouth shut.

We were walking downstream again, having decided it would be faster to go down and use our boat than to follow Victor over the mountains. That way we could also pick up Claude and Jason and hopefully have their help against Victor and his men.

I just hoped Jason was fit to fight because Eric sure wasn`t. Not that he`d admit it, though. He`d talked for a very long time about how rarely he used both hands on his sword, being as strong as he was. He`d sounded as if he was mainly trying to convince himself so I hadn`t interrupted him. I`d only suggested he needed to be careful with his left arm until it was healed and that had made him stop talking alltogether.

I carried the iron chain since Eric was more hurt than I was. A broken arm beats a few broken fingers. The chain was heavy but it would be a shame to waste good iron.

We`d lost our swords and we could only assume that Victor and his men had taken them with them which made me want to throw Victor into the river. Actually, I wanted to throw him into the river regardless of the sword but I felt naked without it and wanted him to pay. I`d won my sword in a fight a couple of years ago and it was a good sword.

But I was confident I would win it back. And anyone holding it would be killed. Slowly.

Going down the hill was faster than going up and it wasn`t even close to dusk when we made it back to the outskirts of Calvin`s village.

Not wanting to walk in on any nasty surprises, Eric and I waited in the forest until we were sure the only people in the village were people who were supposed to be there. And Claude and Jason.

I was glad to see some of the villagers alive and walked down to meet them. Even if I didn`t know any of them very well, we all hugged and cried a little. Eric stood by and watched and soon he turned towards the house where we`d left Claude with Jason.

After having given one last hug to a grandmother I couldn`t remember the name of – an old woman who`d lost all of her family, I followed Eric.

I found him standing outside the house where we`d left Jason and Claude. Dreading what would meet me I walked inside and a terrible stench filled my nose. Claude was standing by the door, looking down when I entered.

"There was nothing I could do," he said and my eyes immediately went to Jason who was still on the bed. His eyes were open and he was alive but he wasn`t Jason. His face was empty and drawn.

I hadn`t been gone for long but it still seemed like Jason had lost weight. His skin was like paper, his golden-blond hair looked almost gray. And when I looked down his body I realized where the smell had come from.

Jason had not left the bed while I`d been gone. Not even to relieve himself.

"Oh, Jason!"

My heart broke from seeing him like this. My strong, gullible, sweet, happy and all too lovable brother had lost himself entirely over a girl I hadn`t even known he was interested in. A girl to whom he had made not promises. At least, no promises of fidelity.

How hadn`t I known this?

How hadn`t I known my own brother?

I wanted to throw myself into his arms and kiss him to make him better. Hug him and bring him back from the Land of Sorrow where he`d currently taken residence.

But I knew that was not the way to do it. I nodded to Claude and made a gesture at Jason`s feet and then I pulled Jason up with my arm under his shoulders. Claude grabbed Jason by the legs and we lifted him.

Jason was like a sack of rocks between us but somehow we managed to get him out of the house where Eric waited. With him in tow Claude and I carried Jason down to the beach. Without any kind of reaction from Jason, we waded out until we were hip deep in water and threw him into the sea.

Jason was still carrying his dagger and his sword and between them and his weight, Jason sank to the bottom. It wasn`t deeper than he could easily get up to breathe but he sank down and stayed there.

I grabbed Claude`s arm and soon I felt Eric`s hand on my shoulder. The three of us stared at Jason in the sea for what seemed like days.

Would Jason choose life or death?

Tears ran down my cheeks. All my life I`d done my best to protect my brother from his own recklessness and now I was the one who`d thrown him into the water to drown.

The irony of Eric`s and my just having escaped a similar death was not lost upon me. I`d used the last of my strength to save Eric from drowning and now I`d endangered my brother.

But it had to be done. Jason needed to choose between drowning and living because he could not survive where he was now.

I counted my breaths, knowing they were the number Jason needed but did not claim. Each of them was a breath Jason`s body craved but didn`t get.

It was the right thing to do but when I`d thrown Jason into the water, I`d been sure he would jump up immediately. That he would throw away his state of indifference if not the sorrow. But for each moment he wasn`t breathing my resolve diminished and I was just about to jump over to Jason and save him when his head broke the surface and he inhaled air in large gulps.

He turned towards me, anger burning from his eyes.

"What in the name of the Hel are you doing, Sookie?" he shouted. "Are you trying to kill me?"

He stood up and when he`d taken a couple of deep breaths he ran towards me. Eric walked in front of me and just stood there, looking at Jason without saying anything.

Jason stared at Eric and then he huffed. After a while he shrugged and walked past Eric without looking at me.

"Did you kill them all?" he asked no one in particular.

"Some of them," I said. "But not all. And not Victor, their leader."

"It seems we need to finish the job then," Jason said.

With relief I went back to Calvin`s village to find some food and weapons. I found myself a belt for a sword I`d grabbed – a belt that would also keep my tunic together in front. Eric also found weapons and soon we were back at the shore where our boat was. Jason and Claude were there already and without a word we boarded the boat and started to sail home.

I glanced at Jason, waiting for signs of his being back to his own self or breaking apart again. I also watched Eric who might soon go into battle with a broken arm. His eye was still black and, like me, he was bruised all over. Eric`s nose looked slightly better, though, so he wouldn`t be Eric the Crooked Nose just yet.

Claude was very quiet as if he knew the outcome of the battle and the survival of all four of us depended more on him than it usually did. Even if I was in better shape than my brother or my husband, I wasn`t going to be as fast or strong as I usually was with my broken fingers and strained muscles.

As we came closer to home, the knots in my stomach tightened. Would we be there before Victor or would we land in the middle of a battle?

Victor and his men weren`t as numerous as they`d been before Eric`s and my raid in the night but they were still enough to do damage. Especially if they ambushed our village.

And especially since it was now dark and people in the village would have gone to bed.

We heard the attack before we saw it. Heard the screams and the fear, heard metal on metal. Heard the animals panicking. The mountains surrounding the fjord echoed every sound and every yell.

Without securing the boat, we jumped ashore as soon as we were close enough. We ran up towards the village, fearing the worst.

And the worst was exactly what met us. Houses were burning and women and children were screaming from inside the burning buildings.

Jane the Meadlover ran past us, her dress and hair burning and before I managed to stop her to help her put out the fire, she fell to the ground and died with a horrible scream.

I was about to give my orders to Claude and Jason when my brother ran past me, his sword raised, yelling out a battle cry that made my hair stand up even more than Jane the Meadlover`s death scream had managed.

My eyes met Eric`s and then Claude`s. We all recognized someone going berserk and that was exactly what Jason had done.

Warriors going berserk were killing machines and they wouldn`t always be able to separate foe from friend.

And they wouldn`t care if they died.

I ran after Jason and caught up with him just as he separated someone`s head from his body. It was an enemy, luckily. One of Victor`s men.

Jason continued his path of destruction, killing yet another man and then another. I looked to my right and left to make sure Jason wasn`t caught from behind or the sides. Jason only looked in one direction and he was only interesting in one thing – killing as many people as possible.

But even if I watched out for my brother, even if I did my best to save his life, I couldn`t help him when Victor suddenly jumped out from behind a house, his sword raised.

It was as if time stood still when Victor`s sword glided through the air. I shouted for Jason, tried to make him see what was happening, but Jason never realized the danger he was in until the sword had caught him and separated his hand from his arm.

I screamed and ran the last few paces to where Victor was raising his sword again to give Jason the final blow. I caught his arm with my blade just as his sword was gliding down and soon there were two hands on the ground – Jason`s left hand and Victor`s right one.

I was about to kill Victor when I heard Eric behind me.

"Don`t do it, Sookie!" he shouted.

I looked at him and was just about to ask him why when I knew the reason Victor was allowed to live when he truly needed to die. He would make an excellent hostage.

Instead of killing Victor, I bent down to my brother, tearing out yet another piece from my tunic to stop the bleeding from his arm.

Jason looked at me as if he were in a trance. No screams in pain, no anger, no sorrow over his lost hand or fear for the village he`d grown up in.

I managed to tie up the stump of his arm but his arm needed more attention than I could give it just then. I also knew it would have to wait.

Over my shoulder I saw Eric hit Victor with the handle of his sword and Victor fall to the ground. Then Eric ripped off a piece of Victor`s tunic and started tying up his arm to stop the bleeding. I got up and helped Jason to stand as well. I needed to bring him out of danger before I continued my part of the battle.

I looked up and noticed that our house was still standing. It wasn`t burning like so many of the other houses. I helped Jason into our house and laid him on his bed. He wouldn`t be entirely safe but I assumed the battle would be over soon what with Victor having been caught.

I ran out again to find Claude and Eric but it was Tara I ran into. She didn`t see me even though she was looking straight at me.

"Tara!" I shouted and she blinked a few times.

"Sookie?" she whispered.

"Yes, it`s me, Tara. What has happened?"

"It`s …," she started, then she fell silent.

I took her in my arms and held her. My breath hitched when I felt her skin. She was cold.

"What happened?" I asked but I knew the answer.

"The children …."

And I cried.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I`m a mother myself and had a hard time writing those two last lines. I feel even worse about posting them, but the story needed them. I hope I`m not giving anyone any nightmares.

**Iceland**

Northman Maille had a couple of questions and her first one was: _I read somewhere they also called Iceland that to keep people away, because it's not, is that true?_

I`ve never read that but it is a fact that the first Viking settlers left after a year because of the harsh climate and because they tried to settle in one of the areas where you couldn`t grow much food. If you`ve ever been to Iceland you`ll know that parts of Iceland is ice (obviously :-D) as in glaciers and parts of it is dried lava with very little dirt on top. And then there are areas that are fairly fertile. I suppose if you land in the wrong area, the island just isn`t very accommodating.

On a side-note – scriptures from Ireland mention monks settling on Iceland before the first Vikings came there but modern archeologists have never found any traces of the monks. One can`t help wondering what happened to them (and if I had one kroner for every historical fate I want to know more about I would be a very rich woman now).

**Freya`s house**

Northman Maille had another question: _You mention Valhalla and I know that is where the warriors go. I seem to remember you telling me once about Freya's house, what is the difference between the two places? Did all people from the Viking Age go to one or the other, or was there a Norse version of hell?_

You are quite right. Frøya had first pick of the warriors who died and she usually chose the warriors who were most honorable and not as blood thirsty as the rest of them. She got to pick half of the warriors and they lived with her in Folkvang.

I`m not sure what they did in Folkvang. I can find plenty of descriptions of what the warriors who ended up with Odin in Valhalla did all day but very little about Frøya`s warriors in Folkvang. But I assume she put them into battle training as Odin did with his warriors.

The reason Odin picked so many men and women who would spend all their time after death in eternal battle wasn`t (just) a prize for a job well done and a battle well fought. No, Odin picked his warriors for pure selfish reasons: He needed warriors who could help him in the battle at Ragnarok.

**Ragnarok**

Ragnarok is the end of the world and the final war against the jotne (there are basically three people – the humans, the æser, who are the gods, and the jotne, who are the enemies of the gods).

Ragnarok is thoroughly described: First there`ll be three years of war and then we`ll have the Fimbul winter – which is an extraordinarily cold winter. Three roosters will crow and there`ll be a flood. The Fenris wolf will come and eat Odin. The tree of Yggdrasil – the tree of life – will die and only two people will survive. They will be the beginning of a new era.

**Icelandic names**

I have to agree with a couple of reviewers who checked up on Icelandic names. I find their name tradition fascinating too.

I just read an interview with the Icelandic footballer Björn Sigurðarson who plays in Norway. He has a couple of very famous (well, famous for those of us who love football) half-brothers, namely Bjarni Guðjónsson, Þórður Guðjónsson, and Joey Guðjónsson. It wasn`t hard to guess that they had their mother in common and that she`d first been with Guðjón and then with Sigurð.

I remember the first time I was in Reykjavik many years ago. I was supposed to call a friend of a friend and was told he was in the phone book. It took me a little while before I realized I had to look under his first name, not his last name. Apparently everyone is listed by their first names in the phone books.

Oh, and I just love using those cute Icelandic letters ð and Þ :-D

I`ll stop here before I obsess completely over Iceland.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – chapter 16**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for your reviews and comments to the last chapter!

I also want to thank **Suki59** for trying to teach me English grammar. It`s like teaching a rock, I`m sure.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

I sat there with Tara for a very long time, not sure what happened or who went by. I would like to think that I would have reacted if an enemy had come by, that I would defend myself and Tara, but I couldn`t be sure.

All I could see were Tara`s children. Their smiles, their laughter. All I could feel was my best friend in my arms,Tara being so very, very cold from the shock.

My sword had been the answer to all my problems for a very long time and there were probably still some of Victor`s people left to kill but my sword was the last thing on my mind. Holding Tara, keeping her close to me, was all I could think about. Apart from that my brain was empty.

I couldn`t even be angry.

At some point I felt an arm on my shoulder and a kiss to my temple but when I looked up no one was there. Only the smell of Eric in the air. Or was that my imagination?

The ground turned cold and Tara turned even colder – and that was what brought me out of my trance.

I got up and pulled Tara with me. Together we stumbled to my house.

I was relieved to see Jason on the bed and Portia the Healer leaning over his arm. Jason looked pale but he was clearly alive. He`d lost his left hand but Jason was strong enough to fight one-handed if he had to.

Seeing Jason ignited a tiny flame inside me. I didn`t want to disturb Portia and I also didn`t want to let go of Tara so instead of going to Jason, I walked Tara over to my bed where we both lay down.

I pulled her into me and kissed the top of her head when suddenly I remembered something vital.

"What about JB?" I whispered. If he were out there, looking for Tara I would need to find him.

Tara didn`t say anything but I could feel my tunic becoming wet where her face was and I knew he was gone too.

I should have gone out to check the damage. Out there to help put out the fires and save lives, if there were any lives that could be saved. Out there to make sure each and every one of Victor`s men were on their way to Helheim.

But I couldn`t leave Tara.

I woke up the next morning, surprised that I`d fallen asleep at all. Tara had her arm around me and was snoring into my chest.

Carefully, I slid myself out from under Tara and got up. I tip-toed over to Jason`s bed and checked on him. He was asleep too, probably sedated by some plant Portia the Healer had given him.

I went outside, noticing how peaceful the village sounded. The birds were chirping just like they always chirped and the waves hit the beaches as if nothing had happened. The only difference was the smell of soot in the air.

I walked outside the village to wash myself a little. I knew I was stalling, that I didn`t want to see what Victor and his men had done to the village, but after some time I took a deep breath and walked back to the village.

Two houses had been burned to the ground and some had damage. Three pigs were kicking in the dirt outside Sam`s house when I suddenly had an arm around my waist.

I looked behind me, expecting to see Eric but it was Sam`s arm. He didn`t say anything, just pulled me into a hug and we stood like that for a while. Then I took a step back and looked at Sam.

"Is your family …?"

Sam nodded. "They are all fine."

My shoulders felt much lighter. "Tara lost her husband and her children."

"I know."

"How many more?" I asked.

"Six people have been killed apart from Tara`s family." Sam managed to look angry and sad at the same time.

A wave of guilt hit me. "I came as quickly as I could," I said.

Sam`s hand glided over my hair like a father would comfort his child.

"I know, Sookie. Eric told me."

I looked at Sam and he looked at me. Then he nodded. "Eric is keeping Victor down by the harbor," he said.

"Victor is alive?" I asked.

"Barely. He`s been beaten up and has lost a hand. But he is worth more alive than dead so Eric made sure he wouldn`t die."

I nodded though I didn`t care how much Victor was worth alive. I wanted him dead ten times over.

After another hug Sam and I walked in different directions. Sam went inside his house and I walked towards the beach.

Eric got up when he saw me. Victor was on the ground, his one hand shackled in what looked like his own chain. There was some irony in that. He didn`t seem entirely conscious but his eyes were open.

"We`re leaving today," Eric said.

Silly disappointment washed over me. Silly because I knew he had to go home with Victor. Home to Queen Sophie-Anne who would use Felipe`s foster son to her advantage.

It was also silly because I`d spent most of my time with Eric telling him to go away and now I was sad when he was going to do just that.

He took my hand. "You have to go pack if you want to bring anything more."

I shook my head. He didn`t know? "I can`t leave," I said. "Jason …."

Eric`s mouth turned into a narrow line. "You`re my wife."

"I`m Jason`s sister." I needed to stay with Jason. I`d always looked after him and he needed me more than Eric did. It broke my heart but it was the truth.

If Eric`s mouth had been a narrow line, his lips disappeared altogether now. We just looked at each other for a long time, emotions thick in the air.

Then Eric glanced over his shoulder at Victor who seemed to be slowly regaining consciousness. "We have to leave now."

A feeling of loss filled me. What was I supposed to say? I didn`t want him to leave and he didn`t want me to stay but that was not to be changed. But would he leave like this? As if he were indifferent? Would I let him?

Eric grabbed a bucket from the boat and filled it with seawater. Then he threw it in Victor`s face. "Wake up, you little slug!" he shouted and kicked Victor in the hip. "You`re lucky that you`re worth more alive than dead but don`t tempt me."

Victor came to and his half grin told me he hadn`t been as unconscious as he`d liked us to believe.

A warm arm landed on my shoulder and somehow I knew it was Claude even if I hadn`t heard him coming. I leaned into him.

"You`ll leave too?" I asked even though I knew the answer. Eric couldn`t sail the boat alone with his broken arm and he needed help. A little behind Claude I saw Hoyt the Meek and Dermot the Twin.

Dermot wasn`t really the twin of anyone but he`d been born six months after Jason and everyone knew Dermot was our half-brother. He looked like Jason`s twin and that was the name he got. I liked Dermot even if he would always be the testament of my father`s infidelity. Infidelity while my mother had been pregnant with Jason. But then my father had been like most men – not to be trusted.

Now Dermot and Hoyt were leaving with Eric and Claude. I gave them a faint smile and turned my attention back to my cousin.

"I can have a family, Sookie. A wife and children. You know I always wanted that."

"I know." And I did. After all, he`d tried to have that with me.

"And now I can have a family with someone who will love me as a friend but not love me too much." Claude kissed the top of my head.

I nodded. I`d loved Claude too much and Claude had learned how love can hurt. How my love for him hurt me. And even if Claude never loved me the way I loved him, he loved me enough to know it was wrong of him to cause me pain like that.

"I`m staying here," I said but my voice sounded wrong. Thick and heavy.

"I know, Sookie. I told Eric you couldn`t leave Jason. Not now."

I nodded towards Eric who was pulling Victor up and walking him down to the boat. "Be careful."

"I`ll look after him," Claude said. "And you`ll meet again in the next battle, may it come soon."

"May it come soon," I repeated.

Claude, Hoyt and Dermot started walking towards Eric and Victor but when Victor saw them coming, he only grinned. Then he stared at me.

"It seems I underestimated you," he said.

"It seems you did," I replied.

"I may have been influenced by my father`s opinion of women."

Eric pushed him. "He`s not your father. You`re just his foster son, Victor."

Victor laughed. "At least I acknowledge him. Did you know that Felipe made a command that no one was to kill you? You`re his favorite nephew. Well, his only nephew, really. And you keep pretending he doesn`t …. "

Victor never got to explain what Eric was pretending because Eric`s fist had landed hard on Victor`s face and Victor was now unconscious again. This time for real.

Claude walked over, picked up Victor and dumped him in the boat. Then he walked back to me, grabbed me in his long arms and gave me a big hug.

"Talk to Sam," he whispered. "He`ll explain everything."

I nodded and waited for Eric to come give me a hug too but he just got the boat ready and soon Eric and Claude, Hoyt and Dermot were a little dot far out there in the fjord and I was alone on the beach.

"Eric is the son of Felipe`s wife`s sister," Sam explained.

"So he`s not related to Queen Sophie-Anne?" I asked.

We were in his house, his wife and children elsewhere. Sam had offered me a cup of mead and I was drinking it too fast, taking large sips when I should have been taking small ones. I leaned my elbows on the table to enhance my balance.

"Not by blood, no." Sam poured me another cup. "And he`s not related to Felipe by blood either. But Eric is the only male relative Felipe has and Felipe had planned on making Eric his son and heir. An heir would strengthen Felipe`s claim to the throne since Sophie-Anne has no children and no siblings. She doesn`t even have a husband."

"What went wrong?" I asked.

Sam took a sip of his mead. "First there was Eric`s mother," he explained. "Then Pam."

"What about them?"

"You know that Felipe is the Chief of Great Island?" Sam asked.

I didn`t know Felipe was chief there but I`d learned that Great Island was where he lived. Great Island was technically part of Queen Sophie-Anne`s kingdom but some of the areas still kept their own chiefs.

"Yes," I half lied. I probably should have known more about Felipe but I`d never listened much to gossip and I hadn`t been one of Sam`s strategists. I`d been a warrior and I`d always known my limits when it came to politics.

Sam looked at me. "Eric didn`t tell you any of this?" he asked, his brows furrowed.

"Tell me what?"

"Why they moved?"

I shook my head and didn`t like the feeling of not knowing – not when it came to Eric. It had never bothered me before. I`d welcomed not knowing things because it was always easier to fight whoever I was told to fight and to look after Jason. I was friendly to most people and we usually had enough to eat even if some winters had been tough.

It had been an easy life but now I found myself wanting more.

And being annoyed at Eric for not having offered me the knowledge I should have had.

"Felipe wanted two things from Eric`s family. He wanted the women to submit …," Sam started.

"How?"

"The women in Eric`s family have always been warriors. Eric`s mother was one and so was his aunt, Felipe`s wife."

"And Pamela," I added.

"Pamela was one of the best shieldmaidens ever to have fought."

"So what happened?"

"Felipe married Eric`s aunt and slowly but surely he managed to break her fighting spirit. Then when Eric`s father died Felipe tried to break his mother and ban the use of women as warriors."

Sam took another sip of his mead. "Alain the Cruel was getting sick by then so he did nothing to stop his brother."

"Alain the Cruel was Queen Sophie-Anne`s father." I tried to make it a statement but really it was a question. I hadn`t paid much attention to the royalties of foreign countries.

"Yes, and when he died Felipe assumed he could take over. That everyone would agree with him that women were too weak to fight the way a king should be able to fight."

I mulled it over and then I remembered something Sam had said. "You told me there were two reasons Eric`s family left Great Island. What was the other reason?"

Sam smiled. "You could have been married to a prince now if they hadn`t," he said. "Eric was the only male relative Felipe had and even if Eric was not of Felipe`s blood, Felipe wanted him."

"Wanted him?"

"Felipe sought to adopt Eric as his own."

It wasn`t until I entered my house I realized I hadn`t asked Sam why he had decided we should fight on the Queen`s side. We could have stayed out of the fight.

I didn`t want to think that we _should_ have stayed out of the fight because I had never been one to shy away from a battle, but the thought had temporarily grazed my mind and when I walked inside my house and found Tara lying there staring at the ceiling and Jason doing pretty much the same, the thought came back to me.

Then I reminded myself that a man who found women weak should never be in power. At least not in a country close to where I lived. I also pictured how Eric and his family had run away from Felipe. How they had found it necessary to break up the lives they knew and leave them behind them to start new lives somewhere else – just because of Felipe the Throne-robber.

I knew without a doubt that Sam would never have put us in danger unless he had found it necessary to do just that and with that knowledge I walked over to Jason and sat down. I let my hand glide down his long hair and tried not to look at the arm with no hand.

Both Jason and Tara slept what seemed like an endless sleep. Jason was running a slight fever and Tara was cold so I put them in the same bed and made sure Portia kept them as sedated as they needed to be. Reality was too harsh for them right now and I figured some sleep would do them good.

I kept them fed and made sure they had bedpans and I made myself busy by helping out to rebuild my village. There also were the fields to consider. We`d sown seeds earlier in the spring but now was the time to weed and to spread manure.

We also had to catch some runaway cows and I`d volunteered to milk Tara`s. It was nice to be busy even if I`d always hated weeding and milking – not to mention spreading manure. It had to be done, though, and right now I was happy to do it.

I tried to think as little as possible. Jason missing his hand, Tara having lost her family, Claude gone and Eric having left the way he did – I tried to ban all those thoughts from my brain.

At night I was all alone. My bed – the bed I`d slept alone in since Gran died and up until Eric came to our village – seemed way too big and I couldn`t sleep.

The sun was up later and later which meant I could work late into the night but even if I were exhausted when I undressed and got under my covers, I just kept staring at the ceiling.

It wasn`t until the sixth day a change came. Jason stopped me when I was about to give him his medicine and as if Tara were an extension of my brother, she refused to take it too.

"We need to start working on our sword skills," Jason said and I wasn`t sure who he meant by "we." Was it Tara and him or me and him? Or maybe it was all three of us.

I nodded because he was right. It had been years since I`d gone that long without a good workout with my sword.

Instead of asking Jason how he would manage with his lost hand – or if he was supposed to work out at all so quickly after having had stitches – I helped him out of bed. He was a bit wobbly after having spent so long lying down but he got up anyway.

Tara got up too and wasn`t in much better shape than my brother. She looked as if she`d taken Jason`s "we" to heart so when Jason started walking towards the door, she followed.

I grabbed our swords and some clean clothes for them, and steered them towards the river so that they could clean up first. Then after we'd washed ourselves, we walked to the meadow.

The workout on the first day was slow and careful but the next days and weeks we got more serious. Jason had his stitches removed and was handling his lack of balance better every day. Even if Jason rarely had used his left hand on his sword, he`d used it in other ways – ways he now had to change.

Tara hadn`t worked out much with her sword after she`d married JB but she`d been talented when she was young and soon her old talents flowed back into her arms and hands. She had a new ferocity to her fighting and I knew she was seeing her children`s murderers at the end of her sword.

Tara was ready for revenge – which wasn`t a bad reason to become a shieldmaiden.

We`d been working out for hours every day way into the first days of summer when Sam found us in the meadow.

"I`ve decided that we`ll make a _blot_ on Midsummer," he said. "We need to have the gods on our side."

I nodded and I could see Tara and Jason agreeing too. Sacrificing a few animals was a small price to pay if it could help us in the upcoming battle against Felipe the Throne-robber. We didn`t know when we were going to fight him – only that it would be before the first snow.

"When are we leaving?" Jason asked.

_Blot_ always took place in the holy forest of Djupskog, half a day`s sailing to the south of our village. We only went to the Midsummer _blot_ when a sacrifice was deeply needed. The last time we`d gone had been five years ago when three women had lost their children during pregnancy during the spring and two cows had died mysteriously. Sam had consulted Amelia the Witch who had gone into a trance and come back with a message from the gods. They were angry at us.

This time we were going to make a _blot_ as a precaution, not an appeasement.

"I think it would be wise to be there a few days ahead of Midsummer. I think there will be quite a turnout this year," Sam replied. "There always is when war is brewing."

We were lucky to live fairly close to Djupskog. Some people had to travel for days to get there and if Sam was correct, Djupskog would be crowded this Midsummer.

Almost the whole village left for the _blot_. Only a few old people and four men to defend them stayed back. One would anger the gods if one fought during _blot_ but with the lack of honor Victor had shown, we couldn`t be sure his foster father wouldn`t still attack us.

Four men weren`t enough to keep our village safe but at least they would give Felipe a fight if he decided to come for an honorless visit.

We`d brought both cattle and sheep for the _blot_. The sun warmed us from above and the wind was favorable. It felt as if the gods were pleased already and for the first time in a long time I felt a smile warm my heart while the sun warmed my face.

The _blot_ was a good idea.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I think I`ve touched _blot_ in a previous chapter but if not _blot_ was the way the Vikings sacrificed animals and, historians think, sometimes slaves too (you`ve probably noticed that I don`t have any slaves in my story – I just couldn`t fit them in). I`ve actually read that they would sacrifice the odd village chief if things were really bad but I`m not sure if that`s true.

I`m not going to sacrifice Sam :-)

**Scandinavia**

I`ve had a few questions about Scandinavian topography – what Scandinavia looks like. Here is the short version:

**Denmark** is very small, very flat (Denmark has absolutely no mountains – only hills) and consists of a lot of small islands. Denmark is the closest populated country in Scandinavia – a lot of larger cities and very little true nature apart from the sea. Denmark has the loveliest beaches in Scandinavia – nice, long sandy beaches.

In my mind Eric lives in the flatlands of Denmark.

**Norway** has less people than Denmark but is SO much larger. Norway is the second thinnest populated country in Europe after Iceland and it`s a very long country – and due to some very handsome grants from the government, people live in the weirdest places. Norway doesn`t have very large cities but plenty of small villages and farms scattered on mountain tops and in the valleys. The capitol, Oslo, is to the south and if you tip over Norway around where Oslo is and let the rest of Norway be south of Oslo instead of north of it, Norway would go all the way down to Rome, Italy. This is why there are huge differences in climate between the north and the south. Norway is often called Land of the Midnight Sun – which is very much true in the north where the sun doesn`t go down in the summer, but almost semi-true in the south since the summer nights are not very dark. Norway is also called Land of the Fjords because of the deep and very beautiful and majestic fjords to the west of the country.

In my mind Sookie lives in Norway – at the bottom of one of the minor fjords.

**Sweden** is the largest country in Scandinavia both in land and in population but most Swedes live in the cities to the south. The Swedish government never tried to make people stay in the countryside by giving them monetary reasons to do so, like in Norway, so most Swedes moved to the larger cities. Most of Sweden is therefore one huge forest with wolves and bears and what not. It makes it a bit boring to drive through Sweden – but the size of their cities make them all the more interesting.

In my mind the _blot_ takes place in Sweden – which is between Denmark and Norway.

* * *

><p><strong>Terrorism in Norway<strong>

I know that these A/Ns usually are about the Viking age but I had something else I wanted to write about today. As most of you have probably heard, Norway was hit by a terrorist this summer. Anders Behring Breivik set off a bomb at the government offices and then he drove to the small island of Utøya where a group of young people from the youth branch of the government party were gathered for their annual celebration. He killed a large number of these kids and drove several hundred of them into the water in the hopes that they would drown.

Anders Behring Breivik is currently under trial where he claims the reason he did all this was his frustration that Norway is becoming more "multi-cultural" and that he thinks it`s the government`s fault (a government the majority of the people of Norway has elected). During the trial he mentioned that he truly hated a certain children`s song, "Children of the Rainbow", because he felt the song brainwashed kids into thinking all skin colors were equal. This is a very popular song here.

Two women heard this and reacted spontaneously. They invited friends and relatives on Facebook to join them a couple of days later to sing that song and show Anders Behring Breivik that they loved the song he hates and that they don`t share his opinions. Friends and relatives sent it to all their friends and relatives and it turned into something huge. All in all we were 40,000 people who met up last Thursday at 12, in pouring rain, to sing that song. I was there and I can`t tell you how happy it made me to see that huge group of people, all wanting to say that we disagree with Anders Behring Breivik.

We sang the song, walked quietly to the courthouse where the song was song again. People put down roses and we all went back to work. It was very beautiful!

This has absolutely nothing to do with Sookie the Shieldmaiden. I just wanted to share a very touching moment with you.

If you want to see us singing – look up **Barn av regnbuen 2012** on YouTube.

Have a nice week!


	17. Chapter 17

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 17**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for all your nice comments after the last chapter.

I also want to thank **Suki59** for being such a great beta. Did you notice that she is now writing a Hunger Games fanfiction? Go read!

**Charlaine Harris** owns the characters in this story. She also owns the brand new book she published last week – a book I loved so much. Now I can`t wait for the last one in the series.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

I looked at Tara, sitting by herself, staring at nothing. People walked past her on the boat and she sat there like she was in her own little world. She didn`t even glance at the goat that was chewing on her dress. The wind had pulled some of her hair out of her braid and it was making a poetic dance on her face, something she didn`t seem to mind. Or notice.

She was wearing short sleeves since it was a hot day and I noticed something new. Tara`s arm wasn`t soft anymore. All the sword training had left her with long and lean muscles under the skin.

Her face was different too. Where she`d always had a smile on it she was more stoic now. She hadn`t spoken about JB or her children and I knew she wasn`t going to. Tara had a plan. She had a purpose. And getting strong was part of that plan. I suspected all the muscles were an alternative to breaking apart and frankly, I preferred a strong and determined Tara even if I missed talking to her like we used to talk.

I looked over at Jason. He`d started to smile again but not the way he used to. Jason wasn`t that easy-go-lucky guy he`d been. He had the same set jaw as Tara and I knew he had made plans that corresponded with hers.

Tara and Jason were going to avenge what had happened to them and the thought of that revenge was what was keeping them up.

I took a deep breath of the sea air. I still had all my limbs and none of my immediate family had been killed recently so why was I the one who wanted to roll up and cry?

I had this big black hole inside me and I wasn`t sure how to fill it.

I`d filled my time – every waking hour since Eric had left had been full of Sookie-activities. I`d tried to make myself useful. To Sam. To Tara. To Jason. To the village. And I`d worked out harder than I ever had, making sure Tara and Jason would be ready for whatever they needed to be ready for.

But something was missing.

I cursed Eric. I cursed him to all the gods just like I`d cursed him every day since he`d left. He`d left me with this huge void in my stomach and every time I thought about him – which was way more often than I would have wanted – I ended up kicking something. Which was fine when it was a rock in the forest but my beautiful wooden cup would never be the same after I`d kicked it from one end of my house to the other.

Deep down I`d known Eric would be just like every other guy. No, like every other _handsome_ guy (broken nose or not). Handsome guys were not trustworthy. They would gladly plant themselves between the legs of any semi-willing girl and I`d known it when I`d first met him.

And yet I`d managed to fall for him.

In spite of all my promises to myself. All my good intentions to stay clear of Eric the Smug Bastard. It was all for nothing. Not only had I had sex with him – that was excused by the imminent death threat I`d faced and my sudden desire to share a house with Eric in Valhalla – but I`d fallen in love with him.

I`d somehow managed to give him my heart without even realizing it. And what I had received in return was Eric the Grumpy jumping into his boat without even giving me a decent kiss goodbye.

I took another deep breath and pushed all thoughts of Eric aside. Eric was not here and the next time I would see him would be in battle. If he was lucky I would fight by his side and not slide a knife between his shoulder blades – the was very lucky and I`d forgotten my knives at home.

That made me smile. Violence was, after all, my favorite way of solving problems. Even if I only solved them in my head. I didn`t relish the thought of Eric being dead but the thought of killing him took some of the edge off my aggression and I managed to lower my shoulders a little.

"How are you doing?"

It was Amelia the Witch who came over to sit next to me. She and I had never been best friends but we`d grown up together and I had nothing against her. Nothing apart from the fact that she made me nervous.

I liked to fight with my sword and even if I had an advantage because the gods had given me the ability to see slightly into the future when I was in battle, I was still a straight forward warrior.

Amelia, on the other hand, was a vølve. The rod she was holding in her hand was her sword – her sign to the world about her special ability. If I could look a few moments into the future, Amelia the Witch could see days, months and years past today.

Which was entirely unnerving.

Amelia was not a mean person but every time she talked to me I had a feeling that she was trying to give me a special message about my future. A warning, perhaps.

Of course, her predicting the death of my parents contributed to the goosebumps I got every time she came close to me. Not that she`d outright said that my parents were going to die but she`d warned them about the trip. She`d told them not to leave the village but they`d chosen not to listen to her.

"Enjoying the sun," I replied. I could have answered her question in a number of ways but most of them would have involved tears or anger so I chose neutral talk about the weather.

She smiled that smile that always made me feel that she knew I was going to say exactly what I`d chosen to say.

"It is a lovely day," she said.

We sat quietly next to each other for awhile, enjoying the sun and the boat plowing through the water.

"Are you happily married?" she suddenly asked.

I looked at her. "I`m not really sure I am married," I said. "We never had any ceremony."

"Would you like to be married?"

I shrugged. "Marriage never was important to me."

It was true. I`d never been one of those girls who pined for married life. I wouldn`t have been a shieldmaiden if I had been. And it certainly hadn`t changed with Eric. Or at least, that was what I was telling myself.

Eric had broken my heart. There was no point in missing what you couldn`t have.

"No, it never was, was it?" she said. "But maybe you just haven`t met the right man yet."

I shrugged again. My shoulders were getting quite the exercise.

Amelia was probably right that I hadn`t met the right man for marital life because the right man didn`t exist. Eric was the wrong man – or at least he`d turned out to be wrong.

Amelia stayed close to me even when we had to get up and help lower the sails and row the boat safely into the harbor. And she walked next to Jason, Tara and me when we made our way up to the woods and the holy tree where the _blot_ was to be held.

I noticed she was scanning the area and all the people there but so were we all. _Blot_ was a rare chance to meet new people without having to kill them. People traveled several days to celebrate midsummer in Djupskog and there would be years between meeting some of the people who came from far away.

Djupskog wasn`t only a place where we celebrated midsummer and sacrificed to the gods. Djupskog was a place where enemies met without animosity, where men and women found spouses and where quite a few inexperienced girls – and some experienced – left with the beginnings of a new little life in their bellies.

Djupskog was one large party and we all knew that later in the evening it could very well turn into an orgy. Not that I would be participating. Luckily Sam decided we were going to camp at the outskirts of the _blot_ area which meant that we wouldn`t be where people were going to cavort. Not unless we went there ourselves.

"Amelia!" someone shouted.

I`d heard the voice before but couldn`t place it so I turned around and saw a tall, dark man waving like a fool. He was too far away for me to recognize him so I squinted. He looked familiar and just as I realized who it was, Amelia raised her arm and waved back.

"Alcide the Wolf!" she shouted back. "Come over here!"

I rolled my eyes. Not that I had anything against Alcide the Wolf apart from the fact that he was a handsome man and handsome men weren`t my favorites in general and especially not after what had happened with Eric, but the wolfy glare he gave me made me shiver. And not in a good way. Alcide certainly lived up to his name.

"You remember Sookie?" Amelia asked when Alcide joined us, and pushed me forward.

"Who could forget the most beautiful and dangerous woman in the world?" Alcide said and I could almost hear him howling at the moon.

"It`s been several years, Alcide," I said, though deep down it was nice to know that someone found be unforgettable. Not that it was important, of course. Me and men? Not going to happen. Not now. I`d learned my lesson.

"Too long, Sookie. I came looking for you recently but Amelia told me you were traveling. I`m glad you chose to come to the _blot._"

Alcide gestured to his people and suddenly they had all camped next to us. Alcide never left my side and neither did Amelia. I noticed Jason and Tara get up but before I could join them they were gone. I figured they were just going to take a look around, maybe meet a few people, and forced myself to breathe easily and not worry about them.

I smiled at Alcide and suddenly I found myself much more relaxed than I had been the last couple of days and weeks. Alcide was easy to talk to even if he was a handsome man.

It was getting darker and the midsummer night was dark blue. A bonfire was being lit. People were moving over to sit around it and so were we. On the way over, Amelia walked to her bags and looked for something. She came back to us with a small leather purse and looked at Alcide and then at me.

"Sookie," she said in a more serious voice than the one she`d used while teasing Alcide and making me feel comfortable. "I`ve had a vision and I want you to do me a favor."

"Sure. What do you need?" I tried to smile even if I would have preferred not to be part of her visions.

"I need for you to enter the world of dreams and find the truth."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

Amelia opened her purse and took out something gray and dry.

"It means that I want you to eat these mushrooms. They will show you truths I can`t see. In my vision I saw that your special eye is even more potent than mine. You are a true Vølve, Sookie, and now is the time for you to explore that side of you."

I shook my head. "I`m not a Vølve, Amelia. I`m a warrior."

"We will soon find out, Sookie. If you take the mushrooms and find no truths then my vision was wrong. But in these times of war we can`t afford to lose even a tiny glimpse of the future. I have already arranged with Alcide that he will be your special guardian in the land of now. He will take care of you. I will be close by and try to be your guardian of the future."

"You`ll take mushrooms too?" I asked.

Amelia laughed. "No, Sookie. I had my vision after having eaten the mushrooms but now I`ll be of more use sober and listening to everything you have to say."

"When do you want me to do this?" I asked.

"I sense that you`re relaxed so now is a perfect time."

I exhaled. I`d eaten mushrooms before but that had only been the weaker kind, the ones that only made you laugh and have fun. The mushrooms for searching the truth were much stronger and there was good reason to fear them.

I looked at Amelia and then at Alcide. She seemed very serious but he gave me a comforting smile which made me nod.

"I`ll do it."

That brought a big smile to Amelia`s face. "Good!" she exclaimed and before I knew it I was chewing on the grey substance she`d pulled out of her leather purse.

At first I didn`t feel anything. I just looked at the people around the bonfire, noticed them talking to each other, laughing and having fun.

My eyes ran back and forth until they chose to stay on Rene who was sitting on the other side of the large bonfire. I didn`t like Rene and having him sneak up on me while sleeping when we were on our raid hadn`t helped my feelings towards him.

Now I found that I couldn`t look away. He was talking to a young girl and suddenly it was as if everyone else disappeared from my vision. Rene`s lips moved in slow motion and the girl laughed. Her laughter seemed to go on forever and I could see how Rene moved closer. How he touched her. I felt his touch on me, his breath on my neck.

I wanted to push him away but the girl just laughed. She laughed when he pulled her up to stand. When he touched her hip, her waist, her breast.

I felt the touches too and tried to shove at Rene. Tried to make him go away.

Then I felt different touches. Calming touches.

"Tell me what`s going on, Sookie," Amelia said but it sounded as if she were very far away.

"Rene…," I started. Then I saw Rene and the girl move very fast. They walked twice as fast – no, even faster – towards the woods. They weren`t running, just walking, but it all happened so fast.

I heard the girl scream and felt her push me – no, Rene. She was shoving him but he was too strong, too fast. He pushed me – no, the girl – to the ground.

Tears ran down my cheeks and they really were my tears and my cheeks.

"Rene is raping the girl," I whispered. "In the woods."

Strong and warm arms pulled me closer. Alcide`s smell was in my nose and I was sitting between his legs, my back to his chest. I leaned back."

"Rene is still sitting over there," he whispered in my ear.

"She is seeing the future, Alcide." It was Amelia`s voice. "I`ll send someone over to stop him, Sookie," she said.

It was as if time jumped because Rene was gone and I was on the back of a raven going high into the sky.

"Raven," I mumbled and I may have said more because I heard Amelia ask me questions that I answered from the sound of her continued questioning.

The raven – and I was the raven now – looked down at a land where people were gathering. They were listening to a man. Suddenly they were running back and forth and there was blood in the grass. They were fighting. It was a battle.

Alcide`s warmth was getting stronger and I felt his hands move on my body. He was touching my stomach and my shoulder – his lower arm crossing my chest between my breasts.

Then his hand was on my breast and I wanted to stop him but I was a raven and ravens can`t speak.

"Krahaa," I said, like the raven I was and a large man moved towards me.

Maybe I was the raven Hugin? Or Munin? I wasn`t sure but the man seemed important. Maybe he was Odin and I was one of his ravens?

I glanced up and felt my head sway from side to side. No, it couldn`t be Odin. Odin wasn`t blond, was he? And Odin only had one eye. Not two like this man. And not blue.

The hand on my breast fell away and then the arms disappeared. My back turned cold and I fell backwards. I fell and I fell and I fell and I was not a raven anymore.

I was on my back in the grass, staring at the sky. I could smell the grass and I felt as one with the earth. I wanted to sink into the ground but something was holding me back.

Loud noise. Shouts. Screams. A thumping. Someone falling.

I couldn`t turn my head but I knew I should. Knew it was important.

Suddenly I couldn`t see the sky anymore. Something was between me and the stars.

Someone.

It was Odin. No, not Odin.

It was someone blond. Someone with blue eyes. Someone important.

"Eric?" I asked.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I hope this chapter didn`t leave you too drugged. If it did, do not throw yourself into the arms of the guy next to you (unless he is a guy you would normally throw yourself into the arms of) expecting him to be Eric :-)

**Vikings and mushrooms**

Mushrooms were used in the Viking age as a drug and also by the various kinds of "seers" to enhance their predictions. The "seers" also used other means to go into the trance they needed to be in. Singing/ chanting and being in a room full of smoke were other ways of getting into the trance.

It`s debated whether warriors used mushrooms when they went to war. For decades it was assumed that warriors who went berserk did it because of these mushrooms. Some warrior groups went berserk in battle after battle and it was assumed that they did it because they were under the mushroom influence.

Recently there has been cast doubt on that. Tests where young men were given mushrooms and then Viking weaponry showed that these men did not perform very well. The Vikings may have been more accustomed to the mushrooms or the use of mushrooms before going into battle is just a myth. No one knows exactly.

**Blot**

I was asked to write more about blot so here goes:

Written sources from the 11th century talk about four annual times of blot but not all were celebrated by everyone. The famous "Lejre blot" (Lejre was a city in Denmark) was held every 9 years and 99 people and 99 horses were sacrificed, according to one source that may have been exaggerating.

The word comes from blotan which means sacrifice. The animals were hung up, for instance in the trees, and their neck sliced. The blood of the animal was then sprayed on the people participating in the blot.

Midsummer and midwinter were often a time for blot since the Vikings felt it was a time where both good and bad were strong what with the sun turning from warm to cold/ cold to warm.

Today midsummer in Scandinavia is celebrated with huge bonfires and if you`re ever in my parts of the world around midsummer – make sure you make it to one of the bonfire parties. Bring beer :-)


	18. Chapter 18

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 18**

**A/N:**

I`m so sorry for not having posted a chapter yesterday. I`m currently on a small island with very poor internet connection and when I was ready to post, the connection was down. It`s a lovely island, btw, and the fun thing is that someone has built a copy of a Viking ship, sailed around the world in it (in 1992) and now the ship is here. It`s always a great inspiration for this story to be able to go on board a Viking ship!

I want to thank **Suki59** for being such a great beta. She has now posted her second Hunger Games fanfic – you should all go and read it.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

The sun was warm and my head was heavy. I felt sticky and dizzy and was glad I was lying down. Trying not to move and doing so I used the little brain power I had left to decide where I was.

I sent messages to my skin and, though with clear delay, I was told that my legs and the lower part of my torso were on a hard surface, possibly grass. My head was resting higher, though. Higher and warmer.

I was on my back and my arms were by my side. I moved my fingers a little, weaved them into something. Yes, grass.

But I couldn`t make out what was under my head.

A pillow?

No.

I lay still for a little while and then I realized it was alive.

Was it a dog?

No, I didn`t have a dog.

I took a deep breath and a familiar smell reached my nose. What was it?

Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw … Odin? No, this wasn`t Odin. I`d found out that this wasn`t Odin. This one had both his eyes. Blue eyes staring at me. A mouth smiling.

The sun was behind his head and made his blond hair glow like gold. Definitely not Odin.

"Eric?" I asked, my voice not really my own. It was distant and … raspy.

"Do you need to throw up?" he asked and my hazy brain immediately found the memory of the last time I`d been intoxicated with Eric.

I shook my head and realized I was lying in his lap, his strong thighs under my head and shoulders.

"How do you feel?" Eric asked.

"Dizzy," I said, still in that same whispery voice. "And thirsty."

Eric leaned back and soon a leather flask was at my mouth and fresh water rolled down my throat. And my chin as I couldn`t swallow very well.

"Amelia told me you`d taken the mushrooms of truth."

I nodded. "She`d had a vision where I was predicting the future."

He grinned. "She told me about your predictions."

"She did?"

"Yes, apparently you and I are going to grow old together. No house in Valhalla." His grin was still there and I couldn`t detect if it was because he enjoyed that prediction or if he was just teasing me.

"Really?" My voice was now loaded with doubt.

"Really. Did you know that you and I are going to have eleven children?"

Definitely teasing. "I am not giving birth to eleven children. You`d be castrated long before that happens." I took another sip of the water and felt my brain clearing.

"But imagine the fun we`d have making all those children."

I couldn`t help enjoying the feeling of lying in his lap and staring into his teasing face. I tried to hold onto my anger. My frustration. But it seemed to fade away and my heart started fluttering as if it belonged to a teenage girl.

"You know I`m good with the sword. A little mishap during practice and I wouldn`t have to worry about you impregnating me at all," I said but my smile undermined the threat.

Eric pretended he hadn`t heard me. "The boys would be as strong and brave as their father and the girls as good looking as their mother."

"Or vice versa," I countered.

"I know that I`m handsome, Sookie, but I wouldn`t want my daughters to have my looks." His smile was wider.

"I meant that _I_ was strong and brave, you oaf," I said and tried to push myself up to a sitting position. It didn`t go very well as my dizziness came back and it brought friends. Headache and Nausea.

"I think I have to throw up anyway," I managed to say just before bile filled my mouth.

Magically I was pushed to lie on my side and a bowl appeared under my mouth. I emptied my stomach – and then some.

"I seem to get to see this side of you a lot, wife," Eric said in a dry voice and it wasn`t until I`d dry-heaved a couple of times that I realized he`d called me "wife."

"Yeah," I said, searching my brain for a snappy reply. "You have to wonder why I keep throwing up when you`re near." Not exactly what I`d wanted to say but it would have to do.

"Ouch. I remember other reactions to being close to me. I can still hear your moans of desire, your …."

"I thought I was going to die, remember?" I stopped him. I couldn`t help smiling, though, because I remembered those moans too.

When my stomach seemed to be through dry-heaving and I had nothing left for it to throw up, Eric gently raised me and half-carried me away from the camp and to a lake close by. He peeled off my clothes in silence and then undressed himself while holding onto me with one hand – which was good because I wasn`t sure I could stand on my own two feet without the support.

My brain noticed the fact that his arm seemed to work and I wanted to comment on it but didn`t.

He carried me into the lake, his right arm carrying most of the weight so apparently his left arm wasn`t back to full strength yet, and lowered me so that I had water to my chin. I dived under and took a large sip of water. Then I rubbed my face to make sure there wasn`t any vomit left on my chin.

I knew I should be embarrassed that Eric had helped his vomiting wife twice now but I just couldn`t muster the energy to care. If a large army had come my way now, threatening to kill me and everyone I cared about, I would probably just have welcomed them and asked them to be quick about it.

I was that exhausted.

Eric pulled me up and I remembered I had to breathe which was hard with my face under water. I gasped for air and realized my brain was in a poor condition when not even my basic survival skills were functioning.

"Thank you," I said to Eric when my breathing was normal again.

"You`re welcome. I can`t have you drowning now that I know you`ll be the mother of my eleven children," he deadpanned.

"I think I`m going to be sick again," I deadpanned back while making gagging sounds. Yes, I`m hilarious when I`m recovering from a night of mushrooms.

He smiled and let his hands glide over my body. Not in a I-want-your-body-and-I-want-it-now way but to make sure I was clean all over, rubbing away invisible dirt and things too gross to think about.

Then he pulled me up and carried me to the grassy hill at the other end of the lake. He laid me down and stretched out next to me. We lay there next to each other, our bodies getting dry and warm from the sun and when his hand grabbed mine I couldn`t help sighing.

Imagine that – me, Sookie Stackhouse, sighing because of a man. And not just any man, but the man I`d cursed for weeks and wanted to give a good kick if I ever saw him again.

I was a disgrace.

We lay there for awhile. The sun moved over the sky, and the shadows from the distant trees and rocks moved with it.

I was at perfect peace. With the world. With myself. With Eric. It must have been some mushroom to have accomplished that and deep inside I knew the peace wasn`t a lasting one. No peace ever was.

"Why are you here?" I asked Eric when I`d listened to the birds and the bees and his breathing for too long.

"I expected you didn`t want to miss the war so I came to get you."

I turned my head and found him looking at me. Eric smiled one of those smiles that turned his blue eyes warmer and made me want to smile back. "I thought Sophie-Anne wanted to wait?"

"Not when she has the upper hand."

My mushroom-drugged brain didn`t connect at first but then I realized what he meant. "Victor," I said.

"Yes. Felipe has received an ultimatum. He is to give in or Victor will die."

"Sophie-Anne expects a battle?" I asked.

"Sophie-Anne likes to be prepared. And she assumes Felipe will be more likely to accept defeat if Sophie-Anne`s army is larger than his."

"Which is why she needs me?"

"Sophie-Anne wants as many women fighting for her as possible." One of Eric`s fingers glided down my cheek to my chin.

"She is sending Felipe a message." I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his finger when it made another trip down my cheek.

"It`s a message I agree with," Eric said and leaned over me. A kiss as soft as a butterfly`s wings landed on my mouth and I inhaled, taking in his smell. But before I could kiss him back he`d rolled up to a sitting position. "We need to get back," he said.

"But …." I wasn`t sure what I was going to say but it had something to do with the kiss.

"I would love to, Sookie," he said and gave me another one of his special smiles. "But I`d prefer for you to be entirely sober. Our first time was on death`s door. I don`t want our second one to be with you drugged on mushrooms."

And then he kissed me again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

****This was a short one - sorry. It had to be like this because of the next chapter.

**Vølve:**

Since I have no internet right now I can`t double check, but I think it was **AuntieL** who asked me what a "Vølve" was. I`m sorry I didn`t explain the Vølve in my last chapter.

A vølve, or volve, volva or vola, was a person who could see the future. A vølve was a woman and usually the leader of a cult of women who would travel around the country and offer their services. She would be connected to Odin who could also predict the future.

Vølve means "carrier of the holy rod" and that rod would usually be the sign of their "profession." Until Christianity the Vølve were met with a large amount of respect but later they were looked upon as witches which wasn`t as positive. In my story I`ve called Amelia a witch but this is meant as a positive Vølve – someone who will do good things for her people.

Vølve were closely related to Sejdmenn (men) and Sejdkonur (women) who were a kind of shamans. Often a Vølve would also be a handler of the Sejd. Women who were Sejd had much more respect than men, who would often be taunted for choosing that line of work. In some myths Sejdmenn were seen as sexual perversions and not "real" men.

Vølves (who were always women) were usually looked upon as experts in sexual seduction but men were also warned against having sex with them as they could lose their powers to the powerful Vølves.


	19. Chapter 19

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for all your comments. Some of you asked me which island I`d been on. It was Håholmen right outside of the city of Molde.

This time the chapter is a bit longer. I hope you`ll enjoy it.

I want to thank **Suki59** for correcting my mistakes. There wouldn`t have been any shieldmaiden without her.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

The night before the _blot_ was quiet since no one wanted to be hungover the next day. It was an evening for renewing friendships and acquaintances and for people of various trades to learn from each other. There was gossip about kings and queens, warriors and battles. When the night was over, the parentage of every baby born in the last three years had been questioned.

Eric and his men were clearly on a mission. Even if he laughed and joked with everyone, there was always an undertone of forging bonds before the upcoming battle. When he was talking to someone at the other end of the campsite, I could see how he was negotiating with some and convincing others to join Sophie-Anne`s side.

Bill of the Long Silences, Chow Blackhair and Rasul the Friendly were moving from group to group as well, always looking for friends, trying to get as many swords to join them as possible.

I saw leather purses changing hands too and a goat or two were pushed from Eric`s camp to the camps of more indecisive tribes.

Sophie-Anne was not gambling everything on Felipe`s surrendering because she had his foster son.

I was meeting old friends and acquaintances as well. Most of them wanted to express their anger and sorrow over the attack on our village and some volunteered for any revenge expedition.

It warmed my heart to have the support of so many people and, though I knew they would not all fight for Sophie-Anne, some might fight for Sam and our village. For me.

I was getting tired from all the talking and smiling and, most importantly, my mushroom experience. Tara and Jason had already retired and were sleeping next to one another. It was nice to see how close they`d grown. They`d found each other in their grief and, as far as I could tell, they held each other up instead of weighing each other down.

I`d kept an extra eye on them, not wanting Jason`s randy ways to be hurtful to Tara but he seemed to be a more respectful version of himself towards Tara than I`d ever seen him with any woman.

I walked a bit away from them, not wanting to wake them up if I had another of my "I am a raven" dreams. I wasn`t sure when the mushrooms would be out of my blood and head but I suspected they weren`t yet. Not entirely. I still saw a bit too many vibrant colors and heard a few noises no one else reacted to.

I found a nice spot under a tree and rolled out the fur I`d been sitting on. Being tired to the bone, I was soon sprawled on the fur and deeply asleep. Ravens kept popping into my dreams and also large blond Odins who weren`t really Odins. An arm pulled me into a warm body and even if it weren`t Odin and I weren`t his raven, I enjoyed the feeling of that body.

Then eleven children ran over a meadow and jumped into a warm lake where they started having fun. All the children were blond and had blue eyes.

Eleven children.

I started breathing heavier.

Eleven children. No, something was wrong.

With a gasp, I woke up and saw Eric lying next to me, his arm draped over my waist.

"I never said anything about our having eleven children when I was looking into the future," I hissed. "It wasn`t part of my dream."

Eric`s eyes were closed but I could see a lopsided smile forming on his lips. Then his breathing became even again. I wanted to kick him awake, but lay down and closed my eyes instead and tried to find my way back to a dreamland without bathing children.

Just as I was half asleep, I felt a kiss on my cheek. "Are you sure?"

We got up early to prepare ourselves and the animals for the _blot_. The sacrifice had to be spectacular for the gods to notice it and feel honored. We`d brought more animals than we usually would have and it seemed we were not the only ones to do that.

These were times of unrest and everyone wanted to survive the summer.

After we`d prepared what needed preparing, Jason, Tara and I went to the lake to wash ourselves and soon Eric and his men were there too.

I helped Jason wash his hair as it was one of the things he found difficult with just one hand. I also gave him a good scrub on his back and he did the same for both me and Tara.

Eric washed his own hair and didn`t seem to need his back scrubbed so I got out when Jason and Tara were done and soon we`d all put on light clothing and were walking back to the camp in our bare feet.

The grass was soft between my toes and I took it as a sign from the gods that they`d given us such a beautiful day for the _blot._ All the warriors – and everyone else with something at stake – were going to be naked during the _blot_ and it was always much nicer to be naked when it was warm than in a blizzard.

But first we would fight the traditional _holmgangs_ and have other tests of courage and skill.

I could feel the anticipation running through my body. I loved the _holmgangs_ but there was always this little fear that I would embarrass myself and my family. No one wants to be the laughing stock in front of absolutely everyone she knows.

I looked around and saw how all the warriors grouped to one side and everyone else stood to the other side. Jason came over to stand next to me and, to my surprise, Tara joined him. It shouldn`t have been a surprise, of course, given all the training Tara had put herself through lately and the revenge she`d sworn to take.

It was just, for me Tara was a wife and a mother, not a warrior.

I swallowed at that thought and gave her a quick smile.

Eric and his men walked up to stand behind us and, as if I were some kind of smitten girl, I felt his presence.

We stood in a circle in the clearing. In the middle of that clearing there was timber laid out in a square and in that square the _holmgangs_ were going to be fought. Amelia stepped forward with Niall Whitebeard and Pythoness the Ancient. Niall and Pythoness had the same powerful abilities as Amelia – only even stronger since they were so much older – and helped guide the chiefs of each of their villages just like Amelia did Sam.

If Amelia made me nervous it was nothing to what Niall and Pythoness did. Pythoness was blind but seemed to be able to see anything she wanted to see. Niall`s looks could fool you too. He had the appearance of a dear, old grandfather but the things I`d seen him do …. I shivered just from looking at him.

"The _holmgangs_ are a special treat for the gods," Amelia said in a loud voice. "I want anyone who has a special gift to present to step forward."

Amelia didn`t mean physical gifts like a new knife or a nice fur. She wanted warriors who had learned a special skill to show it to the gods. Since we were in the woods, there would be no running on the oars of a boat but I couldn`t wait to see what other skills might be presented.

A young guy with red hair and large upper arms came forward. He was carrying three large swords.

"My present is sword throwing," the young man shouted. The pale skin on his throat showed red spots of agitation, which was expected for someone coming forward like he did. After all, a good present was one that had the potential to kill you.

Niall nodded as if he knew him and I assumed the man was from Niall`s village. "Go ahead. I am sure the gods will be pleased."

The man smiled and then he threw one of his swords high over his head. The sword swung beautifully but before it started crashing down towards the guy again, he threw another sword in the air, and then the last one.

His swords were clearly heavy and they were certainly lethal which was probably why all watching held their breath – and cheering every time he caught a sword and sent it upwards again. His swords went up in large circles and came down to land in his hands with amazing precision – only to be thrown up in the air again.

It was spectacular and I felt a thrill at the pit of my stomach. I`d never seen anything like this and surely the gods would appreciate the offer.

When the young man was done, everyone shouted and clapped and several of his friends came over to give him a hug. We all knew what a spectacular present like this meant. The gods must have enjoyed the performance as much as we did.

Several other warriors came forward and showed their abilities with weapons and a few climbed the trees and presented their abilities to jump from one tree to the next or to dance from branch to branch. Luckily no one fell and no one was injured.

Then Pythoness the Ancient called forward all warriors who wanted to show their fighting skills. I stepped into the square and realized that Eric had done the same.

Pythoness walked among us and sent most of the warriors away and finally we were only six people left in the square. Eric and I were among the six. Pythoness came over to stand between us and suddenly I saw her tiny hand in mine and her other hand holding Eric`s.

"This will be a good _holmgang_," she said and the crowd cheered. "Husband and wife. It will be spectacular."

I looked at Eric who winked at me. And then something inside me made me grin at him. This wasn`t the first time I`d fought Eric. I`d won but I`d lost too. Eric knew my secret but I`d practiced after our last battle. Now I was going to whip his sexy butt with my sword. And I was going to laugh while doing it.

"First blood or first person on the ground outside the logs," Pythoness continued. "Try not to kill each other."

And with that we were each given a sword. A real sword which meant I would have to be careful since Eric`s reach was longer than mine. Damned his long arms.

"Try not to chop off any body parts you would want me to use on you later," Eric said and then he raised his sword.

I raised mine too and the battle was on. This was a battle I wanted to – no, needed to – win. But I had to be smart. Deep down I was angry with Eric and my anger could be my downfall. I was ready to jump into his face and carve nasty runes on his chest but I knew he would nick me with his sword if I did. And if I bled I would lose.

I circled him instead. Eric knew me too well to jump me. He just watched me move – his eyes narrowed into two small blue slits.

When we`d gone too long without attacking each other, people started shouting at us. I wasn`t distracted by it but Eric – who received the biggest insults from the crowd – grew visibly annoyed. Suddenly he took a step forward but I`d seen it coming and stepped to the side.

We weren`t wearing our usual protection, no chainmail or heavy leather robes, so any touch by Eric`s sword could make me the loser of this fight.

I took two sidesteps and moved behind him, bending down. Eric was tall and I figured his legs were my best chance at nicking him. Unfortunately he took one protective step backwards just as I thought I would manage to cut into his shin.

I "felt" that he would take another step backwards but there was something wrong with that feeling so I didn`t follow him but jumped to the side instead. This turned out to be very wise because he didn`t step backwards but drove forward instead. Eric had tried to trick my special knowledge of how my opponent would move and I had seen through that trick.

I grinned at him when he slashed his sword into thin air. He gave me a smile of acknowledgement and it was my turn to move forward. His left arm moved slowly and seemed unprotected so I tried my best to wound him there.

He stumbled to the side in surprise – a surprise that grew even bigger when I kept driving at his arm and his next sidestep was stopped by the timber bordering our little _holmgang_ field.

I grinned when I saw him losing balance and wanted to make sure he wasn`t regaining it so I jumped forward with my sword raised, which seemed to do the trick as Eric took yet another step to the side, driving his other leg into the timber.

My arms went up in joy and relief over my victory, not realizing that Eric was not entirely down. With a flip of his wrist he drove his sword forward and I felt a distinct pain in my lower arm.

The next thing I knew, Eric was on the ground outside the timber limits and I was staring at blood dripping down from my arm.

"NO!" I yelled. If Eric had cheated me of my victory I would kill him. Slowly. By cutting off his balls. And pulling out the little hairs on his butt. One by one.

My brain kept making up painful things I could do to Eric and it took me some time before I realized everyone had gone quiet. Eric was back on his feet and Niall walked towards us.

"An interesting battle," Niall shouted. "One drew blood and one pushed the other one outside the _holmgang _limits."

I waited for his verdict and swallowed my tears of anger and disappointment. Why had I let Eric`s sword come so close to me? I`d been winning. I`d been showing Eric. And now my arm was bleeding.

"Eric the Northman clearly fell but we also saw the blood on Sookie the Shieldmaiden`s arm." Niall grabbed my hand and then Eric`s. He linked them so that Eric and I were holding each other`s hands. "I declare that they both win," Niall shouted and from the cheer he got, the crowd seemed to agree.

Eric pulled me into his arms and lifted me up. A deep kiss landed on my mouth and his tongue searched for mine. Soon I was kissing him back and if Niall hadn`t stopped us, I`m not sure what would have happened.

The other four warriors fought each other and I didn`t see a single move and couldn`t say who ended up winning those _holmgangs._ Niall had stopped us from kissing in the middle of the _holmgang_ field but that didn`t stop us from kissing elsewhere.

But after a while – a long while – I pulled back. I`d heard the distressed calls from cows, sheep and pigs and knew the _blot_ was up. I wouldn`t miss the _blot_ for anything – not even for Eric`s kisses.

I moved back into the crowd of warriors and saw Jason and Tara there. I couldn`t get closer to them but I was glad they were next to each other as the _blot_ could get wild and we all needed someone to watch our backs.

Mead was passed around but I only drank small sips having already thrown up on Eric twice and not wanting to do a repeat performance.

Niall stepped forward, a large knife in his hand. A sheep was being herded towards him and he looked at the warriors. "Will the warriors who brought this sheep step forward?" he shouted and a few men and a woman did. They undressed and stood naked in front of Niall. Niall slit the sheep`s throat, held the animal up and made sure its blood sprayed each and every one of the warriors in front of him.

Everyone in the crowd shouted in joy over the beautiful gift presented to the gods and the warriors drenched in blood hugged each other and smeared the blood even more over their bodies. A couple of women came over to pick up the animal so they could later serve it as food for everyone.

Several animals were sacrificed like that and more and more people were naked and covered in blood. Even some of people in the crowd had undressed and were moving closer to each other.

_Blots _usually ended with a large orgy at the and this certainly would as well.

The cows and sheep from my village were pushed forward and Niall looked in my direction.

"Will the warriors who`ve given these fine animals step forward?" he shouted.

Jason, Tara and I walked over to Niall and so did Sam, Rene and a few other warriors from my village. We all stripped and stood there naked.

I took a deep breath, letting the emotions of the sacrifice fill me. This was my offering to the gods. I was a warrior – a tool for the gods and hopefully one they would grant victories in the upcoming battles and wars.

Jason grabbed my hand and Tara took the other one. A deep humming came from my throat and I realized everyone around me shared it. It was as if the gods were singing through us and it filled me with joy.

I closed my eyes and heard the sounds from the crowd, the animals and my own humming and as the shouts rose into a yell, I fell warm liquid running down my face and chest and it was as if the gods visited my body and I received their strength. It happened again for each animal Niall sacrificed and by the end, I was convinced we`d been successful in our offerings.

The gods must have been very pleased.

Jason gave me a hug and then I got one from Tara. Tara and Jason then hugged and just before Sam pulled me into his arms, I saw Tara and Jason`s hug turn into a kiss.

For a short moment I wanted to stop them but then I decided that it would be fine – perfect, actually – if Jason and Tara decided to enjoy each other`s bodies tonight. They both needed it and _blot_ was not a night to say no to pleasure.

Sam`s hug was nice and warm, as if he wanted to transfer some of his strength to me, but when he opened his arms to hug someone else, Rene was there to take over.

I didn`t want to hug Rene, not after what I`d seen in my dream, but I couldn`t not hug him. So I did.

Luckily I was pulled away from the hug very quickly and ended in the arms of someone else. Someone tall. Someone I recognized as Eric.

It was his turn to sacrifice animals so I stepped back and enjoyed the view of a naked Eric being sprayed with blood. It was magnificent.

I`d decided not to participate in any orgies during the _blot_ but as I watched Eric – when I felt him in my blood – I knew that he and I would have our own private orgy.

Eric had angered me and hurt me like no other man since Claude but on the night of _blot_ there was no way I could stay away from him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

A blood-covered Eric? Hot or not? Hmmm.

**Vikings and France/Francia**

I notice that this story has quite a few readers from France so I figured I would add a little something for the French readers. I came over an interesting article about the Vikings and Francia (which I think it she English name for the area ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century).

In 845 Ragnar Lodbrok (Furrypants … yeah, I know) sailed up the Seine with 120 ships and over 1000 warriors. Paris was their goal and when they arrived they started burning down houses and churches in anger because the Parisians had escaped with all their valuables.

To save the city the West-Frankish king Charles the Bald had to bribe Ragnar Lodbrok with 3.5 ton of silver. Paris was saved but the Vikings got greedy. A city that will pay you 3.5 ton of silver to get rid of you must be worth another visit.

The Vikings came back several times and each time the number of Vikings on the river Seine increased. Charles the Bald had to do something.

Unfortunately he didn`t have any boats so he couldn`t fight the Vikings on the river. He therefor started building fortified bridges to block the river against the Vikings.

In 885 Ragnar Lodbrok`s son Sigurd Orm-i-øyet (Worm-in-the-eye) came up the river Seine with a fleet of Viking ships that "stretch of 20 kilometers was packed so closely that one couldn`t see the water in the river" according to the monk Abbo Cernuus. Sigurd had even brought women and children because he was planning on staying.

Sigurd was stopped by a bridge close to Paris and he offered the city that he wouldn`t raid it if they let him through. He wanted to raid Burgundy instead. Paris said no, to his big surprise. After having, unsuccessfully, tried to gain access to the bridge tower and tried to burn down the bridge they set up camp and raided the farms around Paris instead.

The Vikings made sure Paris starved but Paris still fought back. They fought back for almost a year with huge sacrifices. But then an agreement was made: The Vikings were allowed to sail past Paris and plunder Burgundy if they let Paris alone. This was Sigurd`s original demand so he quickly accepted.

One of the men who were on this raid was called Rolf. In 911 he came back to the Seine with his own army. He was offered a large area at the Seine if he promised to become Christian and fight off all the other Vikings. He accepted and that was the beginning of the kingdom of Normandy (the Vikings were called Normans).

This was the quick version and you are probably all still giggling over Furrypants :-)


	20. Chapter 20

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – chapter 20**

**A/N:**

In my last chapter I gave a nod to the French readers of this story and received a review for a Norwegian girl living in Paris. How cool was that? The world is a small place.

Thank you for all your reviews and comments. I appreciate them all very much!

I also want to thank **Suki59** for all her great beta work.

The characters in this story belong to **Charlaine Harris**. I`m just covering them in blood and making them have fun with their swords.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20<strong>

I saw Eric before he saw me, the crowd having grown thick between us and him standing with his back turned in my direction. He looked glorious – pale, naked and covered in blood. The light from the dark blue evening sky, the stars and the moon, and the light from the bonfires were all making his blond hair look almost white. The part that wasn`t dark from the blood, that is.

I walked up behind him, enjoying the visual of his muscular back, his strong thighs and that spectacular butt of his. Eric was a vision and for once in my life I indulged myself in enjoying a handsome man.

So what if he betrayed me or ran away with my heart? We could be dead before winter and it wouldn`t mean a thing. I wanted to enjoy the here and now.

No, what I really wanted to enjoy was Eric`s body and I didn`t want to think about all the problems that body came with.

I let my hands glide over his waist and work their way up his chest while I pressed my body into his back.

To my surprise Eric pulled my hands away. "I`m sorry. I`m already spoken for."

I looked at his back in surprise and then I started laughing a very un-feminine laughter. When Eric turned around I could see that he`d recognized my hands. His grin gave him away.

"Well, then. I`ll just walk off and find myself another handsome guy, then," I said.

"Handsome, you say? I do think I`m the only one around. Ah well, I suppose I`ll have to submit to you then. Can`t have you walking around all alone on a night like this."

Instead of keeping up the silly banter I pulled him down and gave him a kiss. Our blood-covered bodies sort of glided around on each other and I noticed that he was really happy to see me. As I was about seeing him – only I didn`t have any body parts sticking out and giving me away.

Eric`s hands slid under my butt and he lifted me up, his cock making a trail down my stomach to land between my thighs. I parted my legs, intending to take him then and there, all the people around us having disappeared from my mind.

"No," Eric whispered and then he started carrying me into the forest. When it was evident I was too slippery for him to be able to hold onto me, he put me down and grabbed my hand instead. He pulled me away from the _blot_, away from everyone and soon we were out of the forest as well. We`d only walked through the outskirts of it and I recognized where he was taking me.

The lake.

I didn`t want to jump into a cold lake. I wanted Eric and I wanted him now.

I stopped and tried to make Eric stop too but his blood-covered hand slid out of mine. He stopped anyway and looked at me. Then he came back and stood in front of me. He bent down and I pursed my lips for the kiss I thought was coming but instead I found myself pulled up on his shoulder – my torso and arms down his back.

I gave his butt a smack. "What are you doing?"

"The first time we had sex, it was about death. I don`t want death on us this time as well."

Just as I was about to yell at him, to tell him to put me down, I was thrown into the cold lake. My yell turned into a shriek and before I could get out of the lake, Eric was upon me, pulling me back.

He pulled me under the water and I felt his hands running over my body and through my hair. Not because he was caressing me but because he was washing the blood off me. I pushed away from him and came up gasping for air.

"You stupid bas…," I shouted but Eric stopped me with a kiss.

His hands ran over my body again and this time he was caressing me, but before I could exchange my anger for lust, he was pulling me out of the lake again.

A cold night breeze hit my wet body and my teeth started chattering. I had goosebumps all over and Eric`s body felt cold as well when his arms came around me and I was hugged into his chest.

"Why did you do that, Eric?" I asked.

"I wanted to make sure you wouldn`t …."

He didn`t say anything more and left me pondering what it was he wanted to make sure I wouldn`t do. His mouth on my neck left me pondering a whole lot of other things as well. And then I stopped pondering altogether. I wasn`t cold anymore.

Slowly we moved to the meadow where we`d enjoyed the sun when I`d been recovering from Amelia`s mushrooms and Eric laid me down. Another breeze tried to cool me down but it was unsuccessful.

Eric came down on top of me and kept kissing my neck. Then he moved down to my breast, his mouth sucking my nipple while his hands were touching anything they could. I wanted one of his big hands, with all those strong fingers, to find its way to a place between my legs where it was sorely wanted but instead Eric`s mouth moved down there.

With my hands in his hair, my fingers making circles on his scalp, Eric kissed and sucked and used his tongue to make all kinds of small and large wonders.

Eric had a tongue of magic, a tongue that could go flat and lick me like a cat but a tongue that also could harden up and put pressure exactly the places I needed it.

An internal humming, like the one during the _blot,_ started and it turned into a cacophony of sounds. No, not sounds. Feelings. Emotions. I inhaled deeply through my nose and suddenly it was like something burst inside me. I went rigid and then little tremors ran through my body.

I may have yelled something or at least groaned out my pleasure but I couldn`t be sure. All I knew was that I`d visited a very special place and that Eric looked cute between my thighs, sporting a large grin.

I was a very recently pleased woman but looking at Eric I knew I wanted more. I pulled at him to lie on top of me but instead he got up on his knees and sat back on his heels. He pulled me up to straddle him, my legs barely on the ground behind him.

He kissed me deeply while sliding into me and our kiss turned into a duet of moaning. Eric`s big hands were on my back and they dragged my body down as he slammed into me.

I found that my legs would be more use behind his back and I drove myself into Eric making the triple forces of his hips, my legs and his hands a tremendous one.

We were hard and fast and frantic and I couldn`t get enough of him.

Just as I was about to come again Eric shifted and my back was on the ground with him grinding himself into me. It pushed me over the top and I felt like I was weightless for a moment.

Then Eric made some noises of his own and with a shudder he landed on top of me.

Thoroughly spent, we lay there panting, Eric on top of me, me enjoying the weight of him. I didn`t want him to move and he seemed to share the sentiment because he stayed there on top of me, inside me, for a very long time.

When he finally pulled away to lie next to me, I moved with him, my head coming to rest on his chest.

We didn't speak. What could we say? Anything we could say, even claiming this was the best sex we`d ever had – it was the best sex I`d ever had, at least – would just sound silly and ridiculous.

After a while the early birds started chirping and I realized I`d dozed off. Eric was asleep under me and I relaxed and soon I dozed off again, using him as my pillow and bed.

The sun was warm when I woke up again, this time lying on my side in the grass. I could feel Eric`s hand draped over my waist and both my arms were between us, my hands on his chest.

I opened my eyes only to meet his very blue ones.

"Good morning," he said with a smile.

"Good morning." My voice was a little hoarse.

"We need to start packing."

I groaned. I wanted to stay there in the sun. Be close to Eric and possibly have sex with him again.

"We can`t be in that much of a hurry. Sam isn`t leaving until tomorrow." Sam had been very specific. He didn`t want a ship full of hungover people who would throw up all the way home.

"Sam isn`t joining us. You`re leaving with me. We`re in a hurry, actually. If it hadn`t been for the _blot_ we would have left already."

"Why the hurry? I thought you said your queen was only preparing for war? Would a day change anything?"

Eric looked at me and I could tell there was something more. Something he wasn`t saying.

"Queen Sophie-Anne does not trust me."

"What? Why?"

"Several reasons. My family connection to Felipe. That I lost her so many warriors when my boat went down .…"

"And?" I asked, waiting for what was really on his mind.

"And that I didn`t bring you home with me."

"She doesn`t trust you because I stayed in my village to nurse my brother?" I asked. I couldn`t believe my own ears.

"That was why you stayed in your village?" Eric raised his eyebrow and I wanted to slap him. Of course, I`d stayed in my village because of Jason. He`d just lost his hand. He could have died.

I probably would have slapped Eric if my arms hadn`t been stuck between our two bodies. I pinched his nipples instead.

"Ah," Eric groaned and I wasn`t sure if he was mocking me or not. "Do that again!"

Then he kissed me. It was a deep kiss, a hot kiss, but I still pulled back.

"You can`t say something like that and then just kiss me, Eric," I said.

"I can`t?" And then he kissed me again.

Anger seemed to serve as an aphrodisiac for him and I had to struggle to pull back once more.

"Eric!"

He looked at me and then he took a deep breath. "You have to come back with me because my queen will punish me if you don`t," he said.

"And?" I asked.

"And because you want to come with me," he grinned. He knew what I wanted him to say.

"And?"

"Because you love me."

I kicked his leg but hurt my toe in the process. "And?" I groaned in pain.

His grin turned into a warm smile. "And because I want you to come with me."

I kissed him.

Both Jason and Tara chose to come with me and Eric. I was delighted to see both of them on board the ship. I was frightened too what with Tara never having been in a battle before and Jason having to fight with only one hand.

But they both had something to avenge and I was certainly not going to stand in their way. Sam had been sad to see us leave but it seemed as if he`d also expected it. He was needed back home. There was still some mending to do and he would have to figure out a way to replace the animals Victor had killed and the ones sacrificed in the _blot_. Sam also had to help the people of Calvin`s village and make sure they were able to defend themselves if they had to.

None of us spoke very much but I noticed how Jason and Tara sometimes touched each other when they thought I wasn`t looking. Had they spent the night of the _blot_ together? I`d been fine with them doing it last night but now I wasn`t so sure. Tara didn`t need to have her heart broken now.

Then I saw something I hadn`t seen in Jason in a long time. If ever. He seemed to care about Tara. Maybe they weren`t lovers. Maybe they were two people sharing a destiny?

I certainly hoped so.

The day was uneventful and when the sun was descending into the ocean I saw Nordby. It was an easy sail into the harbor of Nordby and soon Eric`s longboat lay still and we all jumped onto the beach.

A small group of men met us on the beach. Andre Beardless was one of them. He came forward and nodded at me. Then he looked at Eric.

"I see you finally managed to get your wife to join us? You seem to keep losing her."

I was about to tell Andre Beardless a few truths about Eric not being my lord and master when I noticed Claude walking towards us with Quinn running next to him.

Instead of listening to Eric`s response to Andre, I started walking towards Claude and little Quinn. Claude gave me a big hug and soon Jason came from behind and joined us.

I enjoyed our little family group hug but pulled back when I saw how Tara stood and looked at us, a bit forlorn. I gave her a nod with my head and she came forward. Claude grabbed Quinn and pulled him up and soon we were in sort of an extended family hug. I liked that even more.

Only Eric was missing from the hug.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

It seems some of you would have taken Eric, blood and all. I must admit that I would too. But Eric seemed to want to clean up and who could deny him a nice swim in the lake? I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Loke**

I know I`ve written about Loke before but I`ve been to see The Avengers – and so have several of the readers of this story.

Now, I thought The Avengers was an entertaining movie and though I didn`t particularly how Thor was played, I was thoroughly entertained.

But I couldn`t get into the movie until I told myself that the Loke (or Loki, as he`s called in the movie), was the cartoon-Loke and not the one from our mythology. Apparently that has been nagging several of you too so I thought I`d write a bit more about this trickster of the Nordic mythology.

In the Nordic mythology you just can`t think in the terms of good and evil. Odin and Thor have done some pretty despicable things and Loke is not the evil man he`s later been portrayed as. He`s done some evil things, sure, but usually just to trick people. He`s often had to pay great costs for his tricks and the stories about him often end up with him being tortured or – as it happened once – having his mouth sown up. A horrible punishment for a guy who loves to talk.

One time a jotun, one of the giants, demanded the sun, the moon and Frøya as payment for building a fence around Åsgård, the home of the gods. There was a time limit to the fence building and Loke transformed himself into a mare to distract the stallion that carried the materials for the jotun. The jotun was delayed and couldn`t demand any payment.

The strange part of this story was how Loke later gave birth to the child of himself (as a mare) and the jotun`s stallion – the child was Odin`s eight-legged horse Sleipner. Loke isn`t just a proud mother of an animal but has also fathered the Fenris wolf and the Midgård snake.

But, according to the mythology, at Ragnarokk, when the world goes under, Loke will be evil and will break down order and bring chaos back. Loke loves chaos.

**Thor`s Hammer**

When Christianity came and Christians started wearing their crosses it became more and more common for the believers in the old gods to wear a Thor`s hammer as a symbol of their faith.

Thor`s hammer was one of several treasures made for the gods by the dwarfs, the master craftsmen of the Norse world. The other treasures were, among others, Odin`s spear Gungne, which always hit its target, his ring Draupnir, which dripped with little rings, Frøy`s pig with golden hair and also the amazing ship Skiblander which could sail on both land and water and be put in a small bag when you didn`t need it.

But the hammer was always considered the best treasure. When thrown it would always hit its target and always come back to Thor`s hand.

Thor`s hammer was called Mjølner, which some historians have traced back to the Russian word molnija, which means lightning. Thor was the god of thunder (and thus lightning).


	21. Chapter 21

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – Chapter 21**

**A/N:**

I woke up to a small shock this week when my story "Let Women Vote" was deleted from Fanfiction dot net because they claimed it broke the rules. I didn`t understand anything because that story is not about sex or violence at all but a couple of hours later the story was restored. Apparently it was the word "vote" that had their bot spitting out the story and then later they found that "vote" wasn`t such a bad word after all.

I know several other stories have been deleted because of curse words in the summaries and there`s a lot of anger and frustration among writers right now. Some even talk about boycotting this place.

I`ve decided to stay here for as long as they will have me but I`ll probably post elsewhere as well. We`ll see what the future brings. I just hope this doesn`t discourage too many people from writing and reading fanfiction. Fanfiction should be a lot of fun – not a lot of frustrations.

I want to thank **Suki59** for betaing this chapter even if she was sick. A lot of hugs!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21<strong>

Eric didn`t come back to his house until after we`d all gone to bed. He`d gone with his queen and I had gone with Jason, Claude and Tara to Eric and Pam`s house.

After the initial hugging of Pam and her offspring we had dinner and went to bed. There was an awkward moment when I realized that we hadn`t discussed sleeping arrangements. Pam and Claude were sharing their bed, and had been for a while now, but did Tara expect me to sleep with her so that Eric would have to share his bed with my brother?

Tara and Jason had shared his bed back home but they`d both been in a state of sorrow and had needed the comfort they could offer each other. This was not the case anymore. Not entirely, at least. They both had a sad look in their eyes when they thought no one was looking but they also seemed determined.

I felt a little tingle of guilt because I`d left them alone at the _blot_. It wasn`t that I thought Tara couldn`t look after herself but Jason was a womanizer and how would she react if he threw all his charm at her? Or when he`d eventually leave her.

Only … he had been treating Tara with a degree of respect I`d rarely seen in him. And if they`d been close to one another, she`d been the one to initiate it just as much as Jason had.

Then I realized that it wasn`t necessarily that I was worried about Tara – or Jason for that matter. Whatever happened, or didn`t happen, between my best friend and my brother was up to the gods and if Frøya wanted two people to be together, then who was I to stop it?

I looked at Tara and then at Jason and came to the conclusion that if they wanted to keep sharing their bed then it wasn`t my business what they chose to do in that bed.

And with that I crept under the covers of Eric`s bed and waited for him to return from his meeting with his queen.

When I woke up the next morning it was to Eric sitting down on the bed, trying to pull off his boots. He looked like a sack of rocks, his normally square shoulders rounded and his head hanging low.

"What happened?" I whispered.

He never looked at me, only took off the rest of his clothes and rolled down to lie next to me. Before I could repeat my question he was asleep.

He looked terrible, his skin gray and his eyes red. A night with no sleep would explain some of it but I had a nagging feeling something was wrong. Very wrong.

I kissed his brow and got up to get water and start breakfast.

Eric only slept until breakfast was ready. Then he got up and joined the rest of us around the table. The little sleep he`d had had given him a little color in his cheeks but he still looked awful.

He was grumpy too. His scowl had us all eating in complete silence. Even the kids just shoved their food into their mouths and ran outside as soon as they were done.

"What is Alcide to you?" Eric asked all of a sudden.

"Excuse me?" I asked. I may have had a little edge to my voice.

"Is he your lover?"

"Where did that come from?" I stared at him and he stared back. "I have one lover and that`s you."

"Why was he groping you, then?"

Not wanting to have that conversation I got up to leave the house.

"You can`t trust Alcide, Sookie!" Eric shouted just as I opened the door. "He may be working for Felipe."

"Eric," I said in the coldest voice I could muster. "Do you see Alcide anywhere here?"

Eric looked away and I walked out.

What was wrong with him? When he`d found Alcide groping me he`d also seen what state I was in and he hadn`t complained back then. He`d seemed pleased about seeing me again.

Why was my relationship to Alcide, or lack of the same, something for him to get angry over now?

I met Bill of the Long Silences while I was walking furiously towards the meadow where we worked out. I hadn`t really planned on training now but I was carrying my sword and I noticed Bill was carrying not only his normal sword but also two blunt swords. He`d also brought a sack.

We nodded at each other and when we came to the meadow both Bill and I put our swords down and grabbed a blunt sword each. And then we started fighting.

The sun was high in the sky and we were both breathing hard and wet from sweat when Bill made a motion to stop our fight.

"I need a break," he panted.

I was glad he`d stopped us because I was exhausted. We threw ourselves onto the grass, drank some of the water Bill had brought in his sack and ate some bread and cheese he also pulled out and shared with me. We chewed on it and just enjoyed the sun and the silence.

After a while we got up again and started working out. As always, I preferred to use my body and my sword instead of having to discussing things or thinking them through. Give me a sword and an enemy and I`m a happy woman. Even a blunt sword and a friend could cheer me up, apparently.

But as I grew more and more tired and Bill gave me less and less of a fight, Eric`s question about Alcide popped up in my brain. Why had he asked me about Alcide now?

Bill and I took another break and went to lie down in the grass.

"When do you think we`ll have a real battle?" I asked, wanting to make conversation instead of leaving my brain to think about things I didn`t want to think about.

"Soon, I`m sure," Bill said. "You are more than ready for it."

I grinned at the unexpected praise. "Thank you. You are too."

"I hope to be able to make a difference." Bill looked very serious.

"Me too." After a while I turned to look at him. "Do you know how many supporters your queen has? And how many are going to be on Felipe`s side?"

Bill shook his head. "She has had a few bad surprises lately."

"People she thought would fight for her have turned their backs on her?"

Bill nodded. "Eric didn`t manage to convince as many at the _blot_ as Queen Sophie-Anne had … hoped for."

I sat up. "It seemed to me that he had a lot of people listening to what he was saying."

"They may have listened but when Rasul tried to make them commit themselves to battle, most of them declined."

"Really?"

Bill nodded.

I lay down again and took a deep breath. Did the Queen doubt Eric? He`d implied that she didn`t trust him before the _blot_. Was he in trouble?

I tried to put all the little bits of information together and make them fit but ended up standing up instead.

"Are you too tired for another round?" I asked Bill.

He laughed. "I can certainly see why Eric is attracted to you if this is how you treat him in bed."

And with that we were swinging our swords and jumping back and forth again. Bill was a good warrior and we could laugh when one of us tried to trick the other one without succeeding.

I had my back towards the village when Bill`s eyes left me and stared at something behind me – which I, of course, used to my advantage and "killed" him with a marking of my sword to his neck.

When that something came closer I knew it was Eric but I was enjoying my little victory too much to want to turn around and acknowledge him. And maybe I didn`t want to be like one of those puppy-dog wives who would drop everything if her husband was close by. The last time I`d seen Eric he`d accused me of cheating on him with Alcide.

I jabbed Bill in the ribs to indicate that the fight wasn`t over and he held his sword high again. We fought while I felt Eric move closer. Actually, I heard him because he made so many noises to make me turn around – noises that only made me square my shoulders even more and keep my back turned just the way it was.

Yes, it was childish but then I`d never claimed to be any good at pleasing people. Especially not men. Gentler women would have thrown their arms around Eric`s neck and kissed all his worries away but Eric hadn`t chosen a gentle woman for his wife.

I blocked out Eric to the degree that I was surprised when I felt a sudden pain on my arm.

"AAAUU!" I shouted and finally turned around. "What are you doing?"

Eric glared at me, the sword he`d slapped my arm with hanging low.

"I wanted your attention."

He made me think of Jason – when he was younger. Much younger. I started to laugh.

"What?" he said, narrowing his eyes.

Bill apparently didn`t want to get caught up in anything so he quickly grabbed his swords and started to walk away. He didn`t get past Eric. Not with the blunt sword he`d fought with me, anyway. Eric grabbed it straight out of Bill`s hand and threw his sharp sword to the ground.

"You wanted to work out?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. Eric really wanted my attention and now he was getting it.

"Sure," I said, well aware of the fact that I`d worked out all day and Eric had … I had no idea how Eric had spent his day but probably not in a swordfight. My muscles didn`t agree with my casual voice.

But in battle you can`t tell your enemies that you`re tired and ask them for a break. This wasn`t battle but my pride made me raise my sword and take a swing at Eric.

I wasn`t really angry with Eric. Not angry like I had been when he`d left me. But I still fought him tooth and nail.

If I was tired from having worked out all day, Eric was tired from something else. Lack of sleep, perhaps. The mark his sword had made on my arm was soon avenged and Eric glared at me. I wasn`t the only one with too much pride for my own good. Eric refused to acknowledge the pain the flat side of my sword had inflicted on his shoulder.

As always, pride comes before a fall – and it was Eric`s pride that had him fall backwards after he made a daring attempt at surprising me with three or four jumps in all directions. A small mole hole in the ground had him tumbling over and I was on top of him before he managed to get back on his feet.

Eric made a sound when all his air was pressed out of him from the fall and my body landing on top of him.

"You`re dead," I said with a grin. It was always a pleasure to beat Eric. It even made me forget the incident this morning.

"Yeah," he mumbled and I knew he meant it more literally than I had.

Instead of asking him what he meant, I followed my instinct. Which was completely controlled by my lust, it seemed. After all, I was straddling Eric`s magnificent body.

I bent down and kissed his neck. It was an entirely selfish thing to do but when I pulled back slightly I noticed from the glint in his eye that Eric wasn`t opposed to the idea of me having my way with him. Maybe my selfishness would do him some good too?

His hands grabbed my butt and I leaned down again, this time to kiss his mouth, though I wasn`t sure who was kissing whom when Eric practically devoured my mouth, his pelvis grinding against me.

"Oh, Sookie," he whispered and started pulling at my clothes.

I cursed my pants and wished I`d, for once, worn a dress, but it didn`t take me long to get naked and Eric seemed to be in a hurry too. And right there, in the middle of the meadow, I straddled him again and impaled myself on him with a groan. Or maybe it was Eric who groaned?

Both he and I stopped moving, the feeling of him inside me so exquisite that we didn`t want to ruin the moment. Then Eric`s thumb glided over my nipple and it was like a secret sign. With Eric`s hands on my hips, I let myself slide up and down on him. Up and down. Up and down.

Eric`s face was so focused and yet so peaceful as he lay there, his brows furrowed and his blue eyes on me. His mouth was slightly open and if I were to describe him in one word, that word would be "lustful."

But my mind was not on words or descriptions. My mind was on the increasing pleasure taking place between Eric and me – and inside me. I increased the pace and Eric`s hips moved higher, harder.

"Oh, Sookie," Eric said again; this time his voice was strained.

He was close and so was I but this wasn`t a battle. Or a race. This was Eric and me moving together, enjoying the pleasure we gave each other and the pleasure we took from each other.

And with one last flick of my pelvis, combined with Eric`s pushing himself deep inside me with a loud groan, I came so hard I had to brace myself against Eric`s shoulders so I wouldn`t collapse onto him. But my arms were like willow branches and I fell onto his chest anyway. Eric`s hand landed on top of my back and his other hand held onto my butt. Little shivers ran through the both of us and we had a unintelligible conversation made of sounds of pleasure and enjoyment.

"Oh, Sookie," Eric said with a sigh, and he sounded very content.

I was too.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**Scandinavian names for the days**

**Anaman** had a great suggestion for this A/N. She suggested I write about what our weekdays are called. I`ll do the Norwegian names but the Danish and Swedish are almost the same so it won`t make that much of a difference.

"Why the weekdays and what do they have to do with the Vikings?" you ask. You`ll see :-)

**Monday** = Mandag

Mandag means "Moon day". This is apparently the same in both German, French and Spanish. Monday is the first day of our week and has been since 1973. Before that Sunday was the first day of our week.

**Tuesday** = Tirsdag

Tirsdag means "Tyr`s day" and is named after the Viking god Tyr. He was the god of war and the one who decided who won or lost a battle. Tyr was very brave and only had one hand because he was the only one who dared feed the Fenris wolf.

**Wednesday** = Onsdag

Onsdag means "Odin`s day" and is, of course, named after the one-eyed leader of the Norse gods, Odin.

**Thursday** = Torsdag

There are no prizes for guessing this one. Torsdag means "Thor`s day" and is named after the god of thunder - the all mighty Thor who was a bit smarter than he`s portrayed as in various Hollywood movies *cough*.

**Friday** = Fredag

Fredag means "Frøya`s day" and is named after the goddess of fertility (fits well on a Friday, huh?) and love. This must be the day to hit on people – love and babies are almost guaranteed.

She was also one of the goddesses of war and death, which might explain some of the bar fights on Fridays.

**Saturday** = Lørdag

Lørdag is a newer version of the old word "laugardagen" which means "washing day". This was the day you washed yourself and your clothes.

So maybe you should not go looking for love on a Friday unless you like them in their natural hmm stink.

**Sunday** = Søndag

Søndag comes from the Norse Sunnudagr which means "Sun day" – like the English Sunday.


	22. Chapter 22

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – chapter 22**

**A/N:**

Several of you asked if I was leaving FFdotNet. I`m not. Not unless I`m thrown out. But I got an amazing offer from **Reefchic7**. She offered to make me a blog with all my stories and in just a few days she gave me the most beautiful blog you can imagine - a fancy home away from home for my fanfics. Go check it out: **thyra10 dot wordpress dot com**.

I want to thank **Suki59** for being such a great beta. In this chapter she had even more than usual to work with *blushes*. One day, Suki, one day I`ll learn all the things you keep correcting in my stories.

I don`t own Eric, Sookie or the rest of the characters in this story. I wish I did but I`m just not as creative as **Charlaine Harris**.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 22<strong>

Eric had a way of finding his way into my heart and I had a huge grin plastered on my face.

Eric was more than a handsome man and an amazing lover. He was smart and funny and also very considerate and sweet. At least when he wanted to be. He had a few flaws too but I was slowly coming to accept them. Sort of.

That was what ran through my mind when I was washing myself in the river. Eric wasn`t there with me (or I wouldn`t have been washing myself – he would).

Andre Beardless had come to the meadow when we were lying there enjoying the feeling of bliss.

He`d had looked at me as if I`d done something wrong and then he`d told Eric to come with him to meet the Queen. As if Eric hadn`t spent almost all his waking hours with the Queen since we got back from the blot.

Eric had given me a light kiss on my nose but I hadn`t liked his furrowed brows much.

Still, standing naked in the river, thinking about Eric made me grin. I couldn`t spend all my time worrying. I`d done that for a lifetime already – Jason was the kind of brother who made you anticipate all kinds of evils. Thinking about Eric instead – Eric`s good sides – was a nice change.

I took my time in the river. I wanted to be clean and I wanted to smell good as I hoped Eric would be back in my bed tonight. Preferably awake and not too exhausted by whatever the Queen demanded of him.

No sweat, no blood, no fear of imminent death. It was a nice thought.

Then I shook my head at myself, pining for Eric just after he`d left me to join Andre.

I ducked under, hoping the cold water would bring me back to my usual self. I was not normally a woman who grinned just because she`d had perfect sex. Or found a man she … liked.

When I came up again I walked to the edge of the river, dried off and got dressed. Since I was trying to deny my brain the joy of thinking about Eric and what I wanted to do to his body when the Queen was done with him, I started wondering about what the Queen wanted with him. Why the many conversations? Why the frustrations? Why wasn`t I included?

I was relieved to see Rasul the Friendly, especially since he clearly came to see me. I`d been kept out of all the meetings and didn`t know what was going on. Maybe finally someone would tell me what the Queen wanted?

"The Queen wants you," he said with a smile.

I laughed which made Rasul lift an eyebrow.

"No, it`s …." I wasn`t sure how to explain my laughter. "I was just wondering what the Queen wanted and now you`re telling me she wants me."

Rasul laughed a little too, probably because he was friendly enough to laugh because I found something hilarious, not because he thought I`d said something particularly funny.

"But I`m ready." I tried to wipe the amusement off my face. Literally, actually. But it was still there, deep down in my stomach and wiping my face didn`t make me smile any less.

"Let`s go," Rasul said and took my hand – something I found a little funny but I was sure his intentions were good. When he later moved his hand to my elbow I felt a little more comfortable. His touch indicated we needed to hurry but it wasn`t as personal as holding my hand had been.

We`d walked for a little while when I realized he wasn`t taking me back to the village. Instead he led me past the meadow, over the hills and into the forest.

"Where are we going?" I asked when I felt we`d come a little too far away from the village.

"The Queen is checking out our defenses. I promised to take you to her."

"Do you know what she wants from me?"

He glanced at me, his smile reassuring. "She probably just wants to discuss your role in the battle against Felipe."

I shrugged. There was something Rasul wasn`t telling me. Rasul was nice but he was also loyal so I didn`t think there would be much point in asking him for secrets he couldn`t reveal. And even if there`d been a point, I didn`t want to put Rasul in that position.

I knew the Queen didn`t entirely trust me and I started going over the possible reasons for that lack of trust. Eric had mentioned that my not going home with him when Jason had lost his hand was looked upon as suspicious – which only showed that Queen Sophie-Anne was an only child. Anyone would have stayed with her sibling if he`d just lost an important body part.

And why would I not support Queen Sophie-Anne? It wasn`t as if I – a shieldmaiden – would suddenly transfer my allegiance to a king who was opposed to female warriors.

We`d been walking through the forest for quite some time without seeing anyone. Wouldn`t the Queen have people watching her back if she were that far away from the village? After all, Felipe could land his army anywhere and at any time and Queen Sophie-Anne didn`t need to be caught unaware.

I pulled my elbow out of Rasul`s grab, surprised that he`d held on to it for so long, that I had allowed it, and grabbed the hilt of my sword.

It must have been my intuition – maybe that special feeling I usually only got when I was in battle – because I knew there were people in the forest. And not Queen Sophie-Anne`s people.

I touched Rasul to make him stop. "Watch out," I whispered and pointed at my eyes and then at the forest.

He stared at me for a few moments. Then he held the hilt of his sword too and looked in the direction I`d pointed.

"What did you see?"

"Not sure." I hadn`t seen anything but that didn`t mean there weren`t people around. Because there were. And they weren`t friendly.

Rasul and I stood back to back and slowly we moved sideways, scanning the forest, listening for movement.

"Are you sure it wasn`t any of our people?" Rasul whispered.

I nodded but since he had his back turned to me I also whispered back. "Very."

I wanted to find a good place to fight, a place we`d chosen, not somewhere where we would be ambushed but Rasul walked us deeper into the forest and since he was the local person, I followed him.

I released my sword Instead of pulling it out and grabbed my knife since it was much handier in close combat, especially in the middle of a forest where low-hanging branches could get caught in the longer sword.

With my eyes wide open, I walked closer to danger, trusting Rasul to know we were going in the right direction. Trusting that he knew the forest well enough to bring us through it alive.

The forest was thick where we walked and the descending sun couldn`t quite penetrate the branches of the pine trees. I stared into the darkness between the trees, holding back my breath to catch any sound but the only movement I saw was Rasul and he was also the only one making any sounds. Way too many sounds. When this was over I would have to give him a lesson in walking in silence. He was like a group of toddlers on their way to a blackberry hill, stomping and grunting and breathing like every breath was his last.

I was just about to turn around and tell him to be quiet when I first had the knowledge that someone was going to hold me down and then, almost when that thought entered my head, I felt strong hands around my torso and I was thrown to the ground and my knife was knocked out of my hand.

Instinctively I fought, but then I saw that it was Rasul and I stopped for a moment. Why had he thrown me to the ground? Was he trying to protect me?

And then the truth hit me. We weren`t going to Queen Sophie-Anne at all.

I fought Rasul with everything I had in me. I kicked and tried to punch him even with his weight on my arms. I squirmed and screamed – and then everything went black.

The sun hitting my eyes when I opened them called out a headache the size of a three-day drinking party gone wrong. I quickly closed them again but it was too late. The hammer pounding on the anvil, better known as my brain, was not going to stop any time soon.

I took a deep breath through my nose and tried to clear my head, headache or not.

I was inside a house and it was day, judging from the sun that came through the smoke hole in the ceiling. Those were the two conclusions I could draw from the few moments I`d had my eyes open. Wiggling my hands I came to a third conclusion. I was tied up.

Someone had put me in a bed and I didn`t seem to have been beaten or hurt in any other way than what could be explained by whatever had hit me over the head and my fight with Rasul.

Rasul.

What a double-crossing bastard!

I`d never had many guidelines in my life but I`d always had the one: "Never trust a handsome guy." Actually it was more like "never trust anyone" but handsome guys were at the top of my not-to-be-trusted list.

And yet I`d bought Rasul`s handsome, friendly smile and thought he only meant well. It had never even crossed my mind that he might be a spy. Or whatever he was.

Then I thought back at all the meetings Eric had been to with the Queen and the small remarks about her not trusting him. Oh, she should have known just whom she couldn`t trust.

Unless … my breath caught. Unless, it was the Queen who`d knocked me down and tied me up. Hadn`t Eric mentioned that she didn`t trust me? Maybe she`d had Rasul knock me down so that she could kill me without Eric ever knowing what had happened?

Maybe Eric would think I had run away if I died now and my body was never found?

For some strange reason that thought really hurt.

"Wake up, Sookie," a voice said. There was something about the voice, a hidden accent or something, that I couldn`t place. "Open your eyes."

Slowly I opened my eyes, which made the hammer pound even harder on my inner anvil. I focused on the man standing there, looking down at me. He was very handsome with his dark hair and eyes and that black bear skin draped over his shoulders. But he looked cruel too.

"Felipe," I groaned. It was half a statement, half a question. He certainly looked regal enough to be a chief aspiring to be a king and he was living up to his name Felipe the Elegant.

"That would be King Felipe to you," he said with a sardonic smile. "Sookie the Shieldmaiden."

He managed to make the word "shieldmaiden" sound like a curse word.

"Why am I here?" I asked, my voice dry and rusty.

Felipe smiled. "You will find out soon enough."

I tried to stand up, wanting to be big and menacing, and managed after a few less than dignified tries. Felipe`s smile never left his lips.

"You`re not weak," he stated. "You`ll give Eric strong sons."

I blinked, not understanding what Eric`s offspring was to Felipe but then I remembered how he wanted to adopt Eric as his own and how Eric`s mother had fled Eric`s birthplace to prevent just that.

"I`m a shieldmaiden. Shieldmaidens don`t have children."

Felipe laughed as if I`d said something funny.

"It`s a woman`s place to have children. You`ve had your fun. Now it`s time to think about the future."

"I don`t kill people for the fun of it," I said, though I tried to keep my mouth shut. One should never argue with people like Felipe. Not unless you carried a sword. Swords were always better for discussions than just your mouth. "I`m a good fighter."

Felipe`s smile disappeared and he looked deeply into my eyes. "You`re a woman, Sookie. You should embrace that fact. And a beautiful woman, at that." He looked down my body. "You have good childbearing hips and will be able to provide Eric with many good sons." He paused and was back at staring me in the eye. "Eric deserves a real wife – not some sword-wielding crazy-woman."

"Maybe Eric should be the judge of that." Yes, it was a pathetic comeback but I was tied up and had a headache. How brilliant can one be under those circumstances?

Felipe grinned. "Yes, let us let Eric be the judge of that."

And with that he left me.

If I`d thought I would be left alone, that I would be allowed to crawl back onto the bed to sleep the headache away or to plan my escape – I wasn`t sure which of the two I had the energy for – I was wrong. Soon after Felipe had left me, four women entered the house and, to my joy, they started untying the ropes on my hands.

I took a quick look at them and decided I could easily knock them down but then one of them looked at me and whispered, "Please, don`t try to escape. They will kill my son if you do."

The other three nodded and they seemed scared enough to kill my desire to knock them down and run away. Felipe was smart.

I was told that the woman was called Heidi and that she was supposed to make me look like a "real woman" – which made me wish her good luck – and that it was important that I looked my best.

"Why?" I asked but Heidi just shrugged and I wasn`t sure if it was because she didn`t know or because she couldn`t tell me.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

Instead of writing a long A/N I`ll show you pictures this time. And since one can`t have as many pictures on this site as I would like, I`m going to redirect you to my fancy new blog, made by Reefchic7. I`ve posted pictures of the things you`ve asked me about – clothes, houses and ships. The address is **thyra10 dot wordpress dot com**. Go take a look!


	23. Chapter 23

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – Chapter 23**

**A/N:**

Ah, it`s fun to have a blog. I get to post all the pictures I can`t post here. So if you want to check out a half-naked football player (I promise – he`s only there because of his connection to the Viking age) go to my blog **thyra10 dot wordpress dot com**. My blog does not mean I`m moving. I`m staying on FF so you`re welcome to keep reading here.

I want to thank **Suki59** for being such a great beta. You just can`t imagine what this would have looked like without her.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 23<strong>

"Is she ready?" Felipe walked in just as Heidi brushed some red on my lips.

I`d never worn artificial color on my face and was glad I didn`t have to see the result of Heidi`s work. She`d pulled a dress and a smock with elaborate embroidery on me and the belt I was wearing was held together with a large silver buckle with the image of Ask and Embla embracing each other.

I felt completely naked, not having my sword or even a small knife in the belt. The wind chilled the insides of my legs every time I moved and I missed my pants.

My hair was braided and pinned to my head in some elaborate pattern and my face had been painted. Not just my mouth but my eyes and my cheeks too. I`d even been drenched in some perfumed water and smelled like a flower and not like myself.

I`d hated every moment of my transformation and I hated the result even more, though I couldn`t see it myself.

I could see the smile on Felipe`s face and the admiration in his eyes, though, and I wanted to carve out those dark eyes and feed them to the pigs. Then I wanted to slice his belly open and feed the entrails to the dogs.

The thought of feeding this or that piece of Felipe to various animals made me grin to myself and with all the dignity I could muster I looked Felipe in the eye. I was no blushing virgin who would stare at her feet.

"Very well done, Heidi," Felipe said without looking at the woman who`d primped me. "My son will be very pleased to see you and I do believe you`ll make him a worthy wife. Your boys will be brave and your girls very pretty."

I frowned. "Why would Victor be pleased to see me?" I asked, not understanding what Felipe meant.

"Victor? Bah!" Felipe spat. "I am speaking of Eric, of course. I`ll make a good wife out of you yet. You`re no longer that wild woman he`s claimed for his bedmate."

"Eric is your nephew," I said with conviction. "Not your son." Eric would have died on the sword before he took Felipe as his father.

Felipe the Throne-robber grinned. "Before the day is over, Eric will be my son."

He nodded towards the door and two men walked in and came over to stand next to me. They both grabbed me, holding me by my upper arms, and then they walked me out of the house. Outside, men were lined up with helmets, chainmail and weapons and I knew where we were headed.

We were on our way to battle.

Only I was on the wrong side.

I cursed and started to struggle. How would it look if I came to meet Queen Sophie-Anne`s army – to meet Eric again – painted and primped and in Felipe`s hold? I bit the hand of one of my captors and kicked the shin of the other one. I felt them loosen their grip and was about to kick them both where it would really hurt.

"Stop!" Felipe shouted and I looked at him in horror. His knife was on Heidi`s throat.

I knew I should not care about a woman I had just met but I could not have her throat cut so I could get away. She`d been nice and I couldn`t have her death on my conscience. So I took a deep breath, exhaled, turned around and looked at Felipe, my eyes narrowed.

He smiled and nodded in my direction and I hated the smug look on his face.

"I shall add self-control to the list of your virtues," he said and then he started walking, his army following him – my two guards and me included. I was half carried, half walking between them. The dress kept getting stuck between my legs and I had to kick it forward to be able to walk.

I swore that if I survived this I would never wear a dress again in my life.

I also swore that Felipe would die the most horrible death I could imagine. Forget feeding him to animals. I would find something worse he could die from.

We walked for a little while through the forest and then the trees opened up and I could hear a river behind the little hill we were climbing. What I also heard was people moving, people shouting and people generally working their way up to a fight. The time before a battle had a very special sound and this was what I heard now.

When we came to the top of the hill, I stopped breathing. The sight before me was too frightening. I`d known I would be meeting Queen Sophie-Anne and her warriors and I wasn`t sure what I had expected but it definitely wasn`t this. Queen Sophie-Anne stood there, on the other side of the river, with warriors for as long as my eyes could see, all of them armed to their teeth. Felipe had almost as many men; most of them had been there for a little while when we came. The trampled ground and the restless looks on their faces told their stories.

On the other side of the river there was another small hill and Queen Sophie-Anne stood there with Andre Beardless and a few other men. Victor was kneeling in front of Andre, who had a hand in his hair, pulling his head backwards, and the other hand on a knife at Victor`s throat.

The river between the two camps was shallow enough to cross but wide enough to keep the two groups of warriors separated. At least for now.

Felipe pushed me forward and soon I stood between my two captors on top of the small hill, Felipe two steps behind me. I searched the other side to find familiar faces among all the strangers. I realized most of the warriors were from other tribes pledged to Queen Sophie-Anne but I did see some of the people I`d met in Nordby too.

I couldn`t find Eric and my search for him halted when I realized who was standing next to Queen Sophie-Anne: Rasul the Scumbag – which was my new name for him. He whispered something in her ear and I noticed how her attention was directed from Felipe to me.

"I brought your coward of a foster son. If you want him back, you`ll have to denounce all your claims to the throne," she shouted across the river.

Everyone in the two camps went quiet as warriors always did when their leaders were talking. And Queen Sophie-Anne`s words were bold enough for everyone to stare at Felipe. To wait for his reply.

I noticed quite a few glances at me but no one seemed to recognize me. Paint and a dress will do that to a shieldmaiden. I searched the crowd again for Eric, Jason, Tara and Claude and finally I caught a glimpse of Eric and Claude. They stood to Queen Sophie Anne`s right, next to Bill, Chow and a couple of other warriors. I still couldn`t see Jason or Tara and hoped they weren`t on the battleground at all. Neither of them were prime fighters even if they had both practiced quite a bit lately.

"I don`t need Victor!" Felipe shouted back. "You can keep him."

Everyone, me included, had expected him to negotiate for Victor`s release. I looked back at Victor but he was just staring at the people on the other side of the river.

Even if Queen Sophie-Anne was too far away for me to see details in her facial expression, I detected surprise and shock. Then she took a step forward, and with the knife she suddenly had in her hand, she cut Victor`s throat from ear to ear.

An audible gasp ran through the crowd. What person would kill her own hostage? Now she had nothing to negotiate with. But then I realized that she`d just proven a point. Women could be ruthless too and Felipe needed to know that.

"You can have his body if you want!" Queen Sophie-Anne shouted.

"No, you can keep it!" Felipe yelled. "I`ll soon have a new son." And with that he pushed me forward.

I knew the exact moment Eric recognized me. He`d been staring at me for a while and suddenly his face cracked into disbelief and then horror. I shook my head and opened my mouth to shout at him that I wasn`t there voluntarily, when Felipe`s hand landed on my mouth.

"Eric!" he shouted. "Come to your wife or she will be as dead as Victor."

I couldn`t see it but I felt the cold blade on my throat. I watched Eric yell something at Felipe – curse words really – take a step forward and then be held back by Bill and Chow. Claude shouted something similar to Eric and then some men held him back too. There was a commotion and a struggle and all the time Queen Sophie-Anne stood silently and watched. When she was sure Eric and Claude were under control, she stared back at us. Rasul took a step forward and whispered something in her ear which made her nod and narrow her eyes.

"I`m not surprised Sookie the Shieldmaiden turned out to be a traitor. It`s in her blood. We all remember what her parents did."

I tried to struggle, object, say something. I wasn`t a traitor and neither were my parents. What had she meant? My parents were normal people living normal lives until they`d drowned. What was Queen Sophie-Anne talking about?

Felipe`s knife bit into the delicate thin skin on my throat and I could feel a few drops of blood trickle down to my collarbone. Or was it sweat? I was desperate and wanted to do something – anything. I couldn`t stand there being accused of treason in front of hundreds of warriors – friends and enemies. And I certainly couldn`t be the reason for Eric to change sides.

Not that I necessarily thought he would. He struggled against Bill and Chow but would he really give up his life for me? For Felipe? I hoped not because he would be giving up my life too. I would much rather be dead on this hill, my neck slashed by Felipe, than some dress-clad wife, expected to give Felipe strong grandsons to continue his legacy of suppressing women.

A life without my sword was no life.

That was when I saw Jason and Tara out of the corner of my eye. They were standing almost by themselves by some trees down by the river. I held my breath a few moments when I realized what they were doing. Tara was holding a long bow, a bow meant to shoot arrows far away. Maybe as far away as I was standing.

I tried to remember how good Tara was with her bow. I knew Jason was terrible even when he had both hands but Tara had always preferred the bow to the sword, even when we were kids. She didn`t like to sweat or to get bloody, she`d said. I`d always suspected she preferred the bow because she knew practicing would build her chest muscles but now I welcomed the memory. I just hoped she remembered what she`d learned.

I took a deep breath. Instinct told me what to do. Instinct and my close friendship with Tara. Tara was ready with her bow and arrow and I knew that she knew me well enough to understand that I would rather die than end up with the fate Felipe had in mind.

But I preferred not to die if I could alter that fate. If I could have my life back I would rather be alive.

And just as I saw her pull back her arrow, I pulled Felipe`s arms forward, hoping he wanted me alive enough to not cut my throat. Then I moved my head backwards, giving myself some space from the knife, and dropped to the ground.

Just as I rolled to get away from Felipe and the two men who`d guarded me, I heard a grunt behind me. Then another one and I remembered that Tara was good at shooting several arrows quickly after each other.

Everything seemed to stand still, people looking at one another for a clue as to how they were supposed to act. Then I got up and started running down the hill towards the river and everyone seemed to start moving simultaneously.

I focused on very few things. I needed to cross the river.

And I needed a sword.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

Anyone following the Euro Cup besides me? Yes, we`re talking football. Yes, the kind of football played with the ball on your feet ;-). Well, there wasn`t much of a Viking pillage there. Sweden got kicked out and are going home in total shame. Denmark did slightly better – at least well enough so we can forever taunt the Swedes – but also got the (football) boot. The rest of the Nordic countries didn't even make it to the Euro Cup. If you listen closely you can hear me sigh.

**Weapons and the Vikings**

In some countries there is a lot of talk about the rights to bear arms. In the Viking age there was a duty to bear arms. Every free man was supposed to have a weapon and preferably carry it with him at all times too. Most of the Vikings were excellent at using their weapons as one would expect from a society where weapons were that important.

Swords were the most expensive weapons – refined with gold and silver decorations. Swords were very valuable and would be handed down from father to son. The best swords were made by the Franks who would use both steel and iron which would give the swords more strength and flexibility.

The second best weapons were the spear and the lance. They were terrifying weapons with metal heads that could be half a meter long. In Nordic mythology Odin was considered "Master of the Spear". The Norwegian king Olav Tryggvason was famous for being able to throw two spears at the same time – one with each hand.

Today Vikings are often portrayed with axes but axes were mainly used by warriors who couldn`t afford better weapons. They would use the same axe that they used to chop wood.

Short knives were also used and so was bow and arrow. The latter wasn`t used that much in battle, though, but all the more for hunting.

The Viking shields were something else too. They were round throughout most of the Viking age and were big enough to shield a man from his thigh to his neck. They were beautifully decorated and colored and it must have been quite a sight both on the battlefield but also seeing them hanging outside the Viking ships when they were sailing.


	24. Chapter 24

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – chapter 24**

**A/N:**

I have the best beta! Due to a lot of overtime at work I ran behind with my writing. I`m usually a couple of chapters ahead on this story and now I barely managed to finish this chapter last night – giving **Suki59** way too little time to beta. But she did it anyway. Hugs and kisses!

A little while back I wrote an entry to the **I Write the Songs contests** which is hosted by **Northwoman**. It has now been judged and I posted it a couple of days ago. If you`re interested in reading about Eric who looks up Sookie to find out what really happened that time four years ago when they made love and then it all went bad, you should read my story **Norwegian Wood**. It`s All Human and takes place somewhere in Great Britain.

I can also recommend that you read all the other entries to this contest and **Ooshka**`s promo fic **Hole in the River** – a wonderful story where everything is seen from Hunter`s perspective.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 24<strong>

Running downhill in a skirt is not easy – as I found out the hard way running towards the river, towards my brother and towards Tara who`d just injured – or hopefully killed – Felipe. Or someone standing close to Felipe. I had been too busy running to see what Tara`s arrows had caused.

It was an irony of Loke dimensions if Felipe had been killed by Tara. A woman. And it wasn`t just irony. It was justice. Tara had lost everyone she loved because Felipe had sent Victor on a killing spree in our village. Now she`d had her revenge.

And she`d set me free. Sort of. I still needed to get down the hill and across the river.

Men were running in all directions and luckily most of them didn`t pay much attention to me as I ran by. My eyes darted from one to the other, looking for danger, trying to find a way out of the chaos.

The chaos on my side of the river was mirrored by the chaos on the other side. I tried to locate Eric and thought I saw someone tall and blond running in my direction but I couldn`t be sure it was him. There were too many people, too many shouts and grunts and too many weapons being swung. Men were probably being killed by their friends because everyone was fighting everyone.

The river was filled with men and the water running downstream was turning an ugly shade of red.

Being without a weapon I ran along the river, away from the battles, and tried to find a place I could cross to locate Jason and Tara. Because in the confusion of the battle I`d noticed how Queen Sophie-Anne had directed men in Jason and Tara`s direction and I knew that didn`t bode well. Not with Queen Sophie-Anne believing I was a traitor.

Without thinking about it I`d hiked up the skirt of my dress to be able to run faster but that had also given me one less hand to fight with. Not that I needed that hand since I had no sword, but it did make me feel more imbalanced.

This was why I tied the end of my skirt into the belt. Lifting my skirt so high revealed my legs to the mid-thigh but survival took priority over vanity and, just as I`d liberated my arms from holding my skirt, a man fell down in front of me, a long arrow sticking out of his throat. I quickly grabbed the sword he was never going to use again and held it in the hand I`d only moments before used to hold my skirt.

I finally found a place to cross the river and while walking knee deep in the cold water, I saw Eric heading my way. I nodded my head towards Jason and Tara to indicate my direction, and kept running.

"We have to get out of here," I panted when I finally made it to where my brother and my best friend were standing. Or, they weren`t exactly standing. They`d realized I wasn`t the only one heading in their direction and had started moving away from the battle scene. When I came running, they started running too.

We ran towards the forest, wanting to get away from the river and the battlefield. I glanced over my shoulder to look for Eric and noticed him running towards us. His long legs carried him faster than my short ones did me. I couldn`t determine the look on his face but slowed down slightly so he could catch up with us.

We were inside the shade of the forest when I heard Eric`s voice.

"Why are you running?" he asked and for a moment I wasn`t sure what to say. Running had been my initial reaction and I always followed my battle reactions. I wasn`t a coward and I never ran from a battle – only, now I had.

I stopped and turned in his direction, waiting for him to come closer.

"Rasul is a traitor," I said as an explanation.

"Rasul?" Eric looked surprised and I was happy I hadn`t been the only one to have been fooled by Rasul`s friendliness. Of course, that didn`t bode well either. If Eric found it hard to believe Rasul was a traitor, how would the rest of his people feel?

"Rasul kidnapped me and turned me over to Felipe."

Eric`s surprise turned into anger and I was glad he believed me without any further explanation.

"Rasul is a dead man," he stated as if it were a fact and not just a wish. Eric had predicted the future and in the future Rasul was not walking on the face of the earth.

"He will be as soon as I can get him close enough to my sword," I said, not wanting to sound like a weak woman who couldn`t exact her own vengeance.

Eric looked at me and then he gave me a smile that was so filled with the darkness of wanting murder and mayhem on someone. "I love it when you get blood thirsty, Sookie."

I grinned.

"If you`ve finished admiring each other`s murderous tendencies, maybe we should figure out what we`re going to do." It was Tara`s dry voice that broke the spell.

"I know where we can go," Eric said. "There`s a small cave not too far from here. Pam knows about it and when she realizes I`m gone, she`ll bring Claude and the children there."

"And then, where are we going to go?" Jason asked. "We don`t have any boats so we can`t go home."

I looked at Jason, then at Eric and finally at Tara. The gravity of our situation hit us simultaneously. We couldn`t go home because now not only Felipe – if he was alive – would want to kill us. If Rasul had his way, Queen Sophie-Anne might also want to see us under ground rather than walking on top of it.

"Østby isn`t too far from here. A week`s walk at the most," Tara said. "As far as I know, they aren`t in allegiance with anyone and you know Alcide, Sookie. He is the chief of Østby and would hide us if you asked him."

I stared at Tara and so did Eric but even if I couldn`t read Eric`s mind I would bet my sword that we were staring at her for different reasons. I thought her idea was brilliant but Eric oozed anger.

"Is it true, then?" Eric asked me. "What Queen Sophie-Anne said?"

"What did Queen Sophie-Anne say?" I asked, trying to keep my calm. I did not need a jealous Eric right now.

"That you and Alcide are lovers. That you still have influence on him. That you were the reason why he`d stayed out of the battle with Felipe. That …. " Eric spat out the words but while talking he apparently remembered something. "Oh, Rasul told us that," he said, looking deflated.

"I was Alcide`s lover and told him not to go into an allegiance with the Queen I was fighting for?" I asked in a dry voice. "Was that what the Queen believed?" I suddenly remembered Eric`s angry questions about Alcide. "What you believed?"

Eric looked angry but this time with himself. "We can`t stand here arguing about who said what," he said and started walking deeper into the forest.

Tara gave me a look I didn`t acknowledge but Jason just started walking and followed Eric. Soon we were all getting farther away from the battlefield and Queen Sophie-Anne and Rasul.

We`d walked all day at a fairly fast pace so when Eric claimed we needed a break, I was relieved even if I didn`t want to admit it. I could see that both Jason and Tara shared my sentiments.

Not being familiar with the area, I wasn`t sure if we`d been walking closer to or farther away from Eric`s village. I hoped the latter but had no way of knowing. I trusted Eric, who knew the surroundings, to make the right decision.

Eric found a small creek for us to rest by and we all drank some of the cool water. We sat down for a few moments, all of us too tired to talk. Or maybe we just didn`t know what to say.

After a short while we got up again and started walking. Eric led the way as before the rest and when the midsummer semi-darkness sank into the forest, he showed us a small cave. It was hidden behind some bushes and I wouldn`t have spotted it if Eric hadn`t taken us there.

"We can sleep there," he said.

Tara took her bow and arrow and walked away from us and I started gathering berries. When I came back, Eric had lit a small fire and Jason was resting, which made me realize that he wasn`t entirely back to his old self. Apart from having lost a hand, he`d lost a lot of blood and today had probably been exhausting for him.

After a while Tara came back carrying a hare. Eric skinned it and put it on a stick which he lowered into the fire. The smell of the animal being roasted made my mouth water even if Eric was blackening the meat. Apparently he was impatient and wanted to eat as fast as possible. As did we all.

It was nice to sit there with the only care we had in the world whether the hare would be edible in spite of Eric`s impatience. At least, that was the only care I wanted to acknowledge right now.

We ate the hare and the berries in silence but afterwards Tara coughed a little to get our attention and then she looked at me.

"What are we going to do now?"

I looked at Eric and Jason and then back at her. "We obviously can`t go back. Not until we know what has happened. And definitely not until Rasul is no longer whispering his lies into Queen Sophie-Anne`s ears."

"We`ll have to wait for Pam," Eric said.

I nodded. We couldn`t leave Pam or Claude behind.

"Let`s rest then, and maybe we`ll find a solution in the morning." I yawned and realized just how tired I was.

"I`ll take the first shift at watching the cave," Tara offered.

Jason crawled into the cave while Tara, Eric and I arranged for guard duty. When Eric and I entered the cave a few moments later, Jason was already sound asleep. The day had taken its toll on him.

Eric and I didn`t take off our clothes since we might need to get up quickly but when we lay down, Eric pulled me into his arms. His hand moved up my side and cupped my face.

"You should never paint your face," he whispered. "You look better in your own skin." Then he wiped off the offending paint.

That was the best compliment anyone had ever given me.

"Thank you," I whispered back.

We lay there for a while, cuddling and enjoying the feel of each other. Then something Queen Sophie-Anne had said – something that had been nagging me all day – sailed its way to my mind.

"Do you know what the Queen meant with what she said about my parents?" I asked.

"That they were traitors?" he asked. "No, she never confided in me about your parents. Maybe she just wanted to hurt you by casting doubt about them?"

"Maybe," I said, not really believing it.

After a while we were both sound asleep. I felt a stirring when Eric got up to relieve Tara of the guard duty and, after a while, I was gently woken up to relieve Eric of his duty. The sun was up but it was still very early in the morning when I crawled out of the cave. I found a place, hidden behind a tree, where I could see the entrance to the cave and a large part of the woods surrounding it.

Birds were singing in the trees, celebrating the rising sun, even if the sun rose way too early for anyone to get up. I was enjoying the peacefulness of the birds when they stopped their songs very abruptly. When a group of them took to the air to my left, I knew where to look. Someone was frightening the birds and even if I couldn`t see or hear whoever it was, the birds gave me warning.

Quietly I got up and grabbed my sword. I was still wearing the stupid dress and lost balance a few fragments of time because I stepped on the hem of it while getting up, but I didn`t make a sound – ssomething that couldn`t be said for whoever was closing in on me.

"Are were there soon, Mum?" a girl`s voice asked and I couldn`t help smiling.

"Frannie? Is that you?" I asked in the direction of the voice.

"Sookie!" she squealed and soon Frannie and Quinn came into my vision. They ran into my open arms and I hugged them so tightly I would probably have crushed some bones if Quinn hadn`t complained.

I looked up to see Pam and Claude, but they weren`t alone. Bill and Chow had joined them. So had one of Eric`s friends, a guy named Clancy the Angry.

I hugged Pam and Claude and shook hands with Bill, Chow and Clancy. Eric had claimed we could only trust family but I was happy to see Eric`s friends here too. Every extra sword would matter. It also showed that not everyone bought Rasul`s claim – through Sophie-Anne – that I was a traitor.

We all walked towards the cave when Frannie pulled Pam down and whispered something in her ear. Pam then looked at Quinn.

"Frannie needs to go pee, Quinn. Take your sword and look after her." When he seemed to want to object, she continued. "You`re the warrior in charge of her safety." That made Quinn grow a head taller and he pulled Frannie into the forest while carrying his sword.

"Your sister is here," I said before entering the cave. I didn`t want any of us to end up a head shorter because of poor warning.

"Pam?" Eric growled. His voice bore witness to his lack of sleep.

"The one and only, little brother."

We crawled into the cave and Pam and Claude were attacked with hugs and yells. When Bill, Chow and Clancy entered the cave they got the same treatment. Even Tara distributed hugs to men she hardly knew.

"Is this where we`re going to build the new army?" Clancy asked but before I could ask him what he meant, Eric started interrogating Pam about what had happened after we left.

"You won`t believe what happened!" Pam started, but then she was interrupted by a high pitched scream.

"Frannie!" Pam shouted and in no time we we`d all left the cave and were running towards the sound of cursing and then a loud thump.

I feared the worst and was so relieved when I saw Frannie and Quinn alive and well that it took me a little while to notice the dead body at Quinn`s feet. And the blood on Quinn`s sword.

I took a closer look at the man Quinn had killed. It was Andre Beardless, Queen Sophie-Anne`s advisor.

I gasped and so did everyone else when they realized who was lying there dead on the forest floor.

"He tried to take Frannie," Quinn said in a tiny voice.

Claude grabbed his sword and looked around. "It seems we were followed."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**Yggdrasil**

I`m not sure I`ve mentioned the tree of life – Yggdrasil – before. Yggdrasil is a huge ash-tree with branches so long they go into the sky and three long roots that end in three different worlds.

One root ends up in _Åsgård_ and the _norner_ are living by a well close to that root. The three _norner_, called _Urd, Verdande _and _ Skuld, _ are the goddesses of the past, present and future. When a child is born the _norner_ will be there and measure up the time this child will have to live. The three_ norner _are also keeping the Yggdrasil alive by giving it water from the well.

Another root ends up with the _rimtusser_ or _ jotner_ – the giants. Here is _Mime`s Well_ which is looked after by the very clever _Mime_. This well is the source of wisdom and this is where Odin almost died to get that wisdom.

The third root is in _Nilvheim _or _Hel – _the land of the dead. There is a well there as well but it`s filled with snakes and worms, among them the terrible _Nidhogg_ who is chewing on the root of Yggdrasil.

The Yggdrasil is the most holy of all places

**How did the family know when a warrior died?**

**Nonto94**, who is reading and reviewing her way through the story now, asked this question after chapter 6 and it`s a good question. If a warrior was away from his family for years, how did they know if he died?

I suppose they didn`t unless someone saw him die and reported it back to the warrior`s family. Of course, if they were in Vinland (New Foundland) or Miklagard (Istanbul) no one would be home to report anything for years.

Sometimes the warriors would bring their family along with them but often they would go by themselves. This is probably why warriors generally felt a closer connection to the fellow warriors – their "weapon brothers" – than to their siblings.

It`s hard to imagine today with our mail, telephones, internet and Facebook but I suppose they just accepted not knowing whether their loved ones were alive or dead.

This brings me to the main reason for "going Viking" ("Viking" was a verb, not a noun in the Viking age): they needed the money to get married. No Viking woman would marry a pauper, apparently, so the warriors needed to stock up on silver and gold to get a woman to say yes to them.

**Odin vs other gods**

**Suki59** sent me this joke today and it made me laugh so I`m passing it on to you – I hope I`m not offending anyone:

_Jesus promised to get rid of wicked people._

_Krishna promised to get rid of wicked people._

_Odin promised to get rid of ice giants. _

_I don`t see any ice giants. Do you?_

(Odin rules!)


	25. Chapter 25

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – Chapter 25**

**A/N:**

Thank you for all your reviews and comments to this story. I noticed how FFdotNET has now allowed anonymous reviews for everyone (those of us who had disallowed anonymous reviews now have the option of accepting or denying each review – one of the fancy new additions to FFdotNET) so I want to thank you anonymous reviewers as well all of you who aren`t anonymous.

I also want to thank **Suki59** for, yet again, betaing this chapter from Sunday to Monday. I hope you`re feeling better!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 25<strong>

We all stared into the woods, holding our swords at the ready. Andre could have come by himself and he could have brought an army. We had no way of knowing.

At least, I had no way of knowing because I hadn`t stayed behind to see how the battle had ended and who had won. I had run – and I still didn`t feel good about that. I knew that the battle was too confusing, that I wouldn`t know which enemy I was fighting, that Tara, Jason and I were on everyone`s death list, but I still felt terrible about my cowardly behavior.

"You were about to tell us about what happened," I whispered to Pam while keeping my eyes on the lookout for enemies.

She held a knife in her left hand, her sword hand missing most of its fingers. "Felipe is dead," she started and when I glanced at her I noticed her fierce smile. "And Sophie Anne is hurt."

"How hurt?"

"She lost a leg by the knee."

I drew air in through my teeth. "Can she survive that?"

Pam shrugged. "She might survive the wound but can you imagine a queen with just one leg?"

The raw laughter that escaped from my mouth surprised me. I wasn`t usually one to gloat when other people were hurt. Maybe it was the fact that Andre had almost abducted Pam`s child that made me want to see Queen Sophie-Anne hurt. Maybe it was how she`d rejected me because of Rasul`s lies. She`d rejected me after having wanted me so much she sent Andre out to marry me – something Eric had stopped.

I thought of Queen Sophie-Anne still being a queen. The thought was ridiculous. "Sophie-Anne the One-Legged?" I whispered. "No, I can`t imagine that." I looked at Pam`s hand. "You stopped being a warrior when you lost your fingers. Imagine losing a leg. How will she lead her armies into battle?"

Pam stared at me. "I never stopped being a warrior. I just stopped looking for battles." She paused. "Instead it seems battle found me."

I looked down, realizing my mistake. Of course, Pam never stopped being a warrior. Only death or cowardice stopped a true warrior from being what he or she truly was. Pam may have stopped going into battles voluntarily but if they came looking for her she would be ready with whatever weapon her hands could carry. "I`m proud of having this opportunity to fight at your side," I said, hoping she hadn`t taken offense.

"Likewise," she muttered and I felt a wave of pride washing over me.

Eric was the one to take charge and soon he`d ordered us to form a ring and work our way out. Quinn had taken Frannie back to the cave and I imagined he would defend her to his last tooth. Later we would celebrate his becoming a man and mourn the fact that it happened years too early. But he`d handled himself perfectly and could be proud of himself.

"Quinn did well," I whispered to Pam before the ring opened so wide we were too far away from each other to whisper.

She turned her head in my direction and the smile she gave me was so full of pride I almost wished I had a little warrior myself I could celebrate.

But not 11, though. There was no way I would ever end up with 11 children. Actually, I couldn`t picture myself with any children. I couldn`t imagine how babies and nursing would fit in with my being a shieldmaiden. I could imagine my being on a battlefield, asking the people I was fighting for a nursing break because little Sookie junior needed to be fed.

A branch snapping ahead of me brought me out of my musings about children. I froze for a moment, trying to decide where the sound came from and then I leapt forward as quietly as I could. The forest was thick so I couldn`t see whoever was coming but I could hear him. I hid behind a tree and waited for him to walk past me, raised my sword and jumped forward, ready to separate a head from its body when I realized who the person was.

"Felicia?" I asked. "What are you doing here?" I didn`t lower my sword but I also didn`t kill her on sight.

"We want to join Pam and Eric," a voice behind Felicia the Fair said.

"Thalia?" I smiled. I`d liked Felicia and had had an enormous amount of respect for Thalia.

"The one and only – arthritis and all." Her voice was grumpy but her eyes were alert.

"Are you alone?"

"No, I don`t think we were the only ones to follow Pam. I thought I heard people walking in the same direction as us but we tried to stay in hiding as much as possible since we couldn`t be sure who it was. We only came forward when we heard Frannie scream."

I looked around, not about to be ambushed by anyone sent out by Queen Sophie-Anne. The big question was whether Andre had come alone or not. I could only imagine what he`d wanted with Frannie. If he`d had Frannie he would have had both Pam and Eric, not to mention Claude, Felicia, Thalia and whoever else wanted to follow Pam and Eric more than their queen.

I took a deep breath. Eric and Pam wouldn`t have left their queen if it hadn`t been for me and Queen Sophie-Anne might have won the battle if it hadn`t been for Felipe abducting me.

It was a mess and again I couldn`t help thinking how much I loved a clean battle and how much I hated all the shady dealings between our leaders.

I called out the crows` screech signal we`d agreed upon making if one of us wanted us all to meet up back at the cave and then I led Felicia and Thalia back with me. I heard a few more crows` screeches and soon everyone came back to the area in front of the cave.

When we met in the clearing I realized I wasn`t the only one who`d brought company from the woods. Dermot the Twin was standing next to Jason, an image which always looked eerie, and Eric had brought back quite a few people and I could see from the smile on his face that they were all people he considered friends.

Eric came over to me and pulled me into his side in pure joy.

"We have ourselves a small army, Sookie," he said.

"I can see that. But for which war? Who are we fighting?"

"Pam!" Eric shouted for his sister who came over to us. Apparently having the small army gave Eric confidence enough to shout instead of whispering. "You saw more of what happened at the battlefield than we did. What would you suggest we do now?"

Pam`s eyes got cold and her lips narrowed into that thin line I recognized from her brother. "We have to go back."

"What?" I asked. I had no intentions of going back. I would be killed for treason. "Queen Sophie-Anne will have me killed since Rasul has convinced her I`m a traitor."

"Then we`ll kill Rasul," she said, matter-of-factly. "And we kill Queen Sophie-Anne. We could have chosen to run and I would have done so if it had been just us. But it isn`t just us now. We`re enough people to kill the queen who sent out her henchman to abduct my child."

"But won`t it create more chaos now that Felipe is dead?" I didn`t mind Pam`s plan but I wanted to know where we`d stand afterwards. With both Felipe and Sophie-Anne dead, who would take the crown? Who would lead the country? As far as I knew there was nobody left from Sophie-Anne`s bloodline.

"Yes, it will. I imagine there are enough people out there who would love to take over. Nordby is a rich city and it`s the center of trade between north and south, east and west." Pam looked at Eric. "It`s our duty to defend Nordby after we kill the queen."

"How do you plan on killing her?" Eric said.

"I`m not sure yet." Pam`s smile sent a chill down my spine. "But she`s missing a leg. We could start by doing her the service of making her symmetrical."

Apparently abducting Pam`s offspring was punishable by death. As was only natural.

Pam called everyone over. Frannie and Quinn came to stand next to her and she gave them a smile and held their hands.

"We need to get back as fast as possible," Pam shouted so everyone could hear. "We will all rest and eat and then we will be off." She looked into the forest. "Queen Sophie-Anne is as dead as her uncle."

I enjoyed the part where we rested as an army, everyone knowing just what to do and sleeping in spite of all the noise. The camaraderie, the purpose, the knowledge that when we were done resting, we would soon be fighting.

I also think most of us trusted Pam – or Eric; I wasn`t sure who people trusted more as they seemed to come as a pair – to make the right decisions so the rest of us could therefore relax, knowing that if we died, it was for a good reason. Pam was that kind of leader and so was Eric.

I`d volunteered to scout and stay on watch since I`d had some sleep last night as opposed to the people who`d been walking all night. I listened carefully to all the noises coming from the forest, both with my ears and that inner sense I had. But there was nothing. Either Andre had come alone or the people he`d come with had left when he`d been killed.

It was early in the morning when we started the rest and the sun was high on the sky when everyone got up, filled their containers with water from the small creek, tied their sword belts a little tighter and started moving.

No one was talking or horsing around. We were on a mission that could cost us our lives and everyone knew that.

We walked in a different direction than the one we`d come from, which just confirmed that the battlefield Felipe had taken me to wasn`t close to Nordby.

Pam let us walk in a formation with scouts ahead that guaranteed that we wouldn`t be ambushed and that we could move fairly quickly forward. She changed the scouts every so often to make sure they stayed sharp and when the shadows grew longer and the air a little colder, Pam made signs for Eric and me to relieve the last scouts she`d appointed.

Quickly and quietly we rushed forward, found Felicia and Clancy and replaced them.

Eric and I were a perfect scout team since we seemed to somehow be each other`s eyes and ears. If one of us heard something, the other one would stop and listen in that same direction without a word having been exchanged between us.

I assumed we were getting closer to Nordby because the paths were more downtrodden and there were more of them – a sure sign of people living close by, using the forest to hunt and gather firewood. We therefore needed to be more careful, more on guard, and I stopped and listened while sniffing the air for fires.

That was when I heard it. To my left there was a noise and it wasn`t an animal. I looked at Eric who`d heard the noise as well.

We crouched down and I started moving quietly in the direction of the sound while Eric moved backwards towards Pam and the rest of the warriors to warn them so they didn`t walk into a trap.

I sneaked closer, listening for whoever was there, trying to get a feeling of what was ahead. Was it an ambush? How many were there?

Just as I`d come to the conclusion that it was just one person and that he wasn`t going to fight me, I heard a whisper. "Sookie?"

I got up and to my surprise I saw a familiar face. "Alcide?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled. "Amelia told me you would be here."

"How would she know?" I didn`t understand anything. Alcide was so very out of place. Yes, he was the chief of a minor area not too far from Queen Sophie-Anne`s kingdom but his men hadn`t been in the battle so there was no reason for his being here.

"She saw it in a vision. I went to her when Rasul told me you wanted to be my queen if I didn`t take Queen Sophie-Anne`s side in the battle."

"Rasul told you what?" I asked, trying to keep my voice down. Rasul had been a busy man, spreading lies about me everywhere. "Why did you believe him?"

The lines on Alcide`s forehead got deeper. "Because of your parents, of course. They drowned on their way to help my father against Sophie-Anne`s father and now you`re helping me against Sophie-Anne. There`s some justice in that and I think your parents would be proud."

It was as if my brain were drained of all thought. My parents were on their way to fight for Alcide`s father? Why? And why hadn`t I known? I`d always been told they were on their way to a market. That my father wanted to buy cows and that my mother had joined him to make sure he didn`t use the money on other women instead of bovine.

But I couldn`t tell Alcide that. I couldn`t ask him about my parents. I couldn`t let him know how ignorant I was about my own family. So I grabbed something else he`d said instead.

"Queen of what kingdom?"

"Well, the kingdom currently ruled by a one-legged queen, of course." Alcide grinned.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

On Friday I`m going on a three week vacation. I`m not entirely sure I can post a chapter every Monday while I`m away because I`m going to stay at a cabin with no reliable internet. But I`ll try!

If you`re wondering where I`m going, I can recommend my very first multi-chapter, **Dead in Denmark**, because it describes the very area where we`re staying. You can also go to my blog **thyra10**DOT**wordpress**DOT**com **and check out the pictures of the beach.

I hope you`re having a nice summer (or winter if you`re on the other side of the planet)!

**Thyra Danebod of Denmark**

I can`t remember if I`ve already mentioned Queen Thyra Danebod but if I have, I apologize for that. Thyra Danebod is one of my big historical heroes even though we know very little about her. I suppose she`s my hero because she is one of few women mentioned by name in the Viking age.

We know she existed because her husband, King Gorm the Old, made a rune stone with her name on it and later her son Harald Bluetooth (yes, the Bluetooth technology was named after him) made a rune stone for both Queen Thyra and King Gorm.

The latter rune stone is often considered Denmark`s birth certificate because it explains that Gorm the Old was the one to gather Denmark to one country. This was between 960 and 985.

We can assume that Thyra Danebod was born in the early 900s. We know little of her origin but the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus (aprox. 1150 – 1220) claimed that she was the daughter of the King of Wessex, Æthelred/ Edelradus. Other sources claim she was the illegitimate daughter of the English King Edward the Elder.

According to legends Thyra Danebod built defense walls to the south, the defense walls that exist even today under the name Dannevirke. Apparently the German emperor Otto I wooed her and she kept stalling him for a year while building those defense walls. Unfortunately that story isn`t true. Archeological tests have shown that the walls were built before Thyra`s birth and rebuilt after her death. But it was a good story.

You can see pictures of the two rune stones on my blog.


	26. Chapter 26

** Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 26**

**A/N: **

_I know it must come as a huge shock to have another chapter to this story since it`s been hibernating since last summer. But I`ve had so many people asking me about whether or not I would continue writing and it was also nominated for several prizes at the __**Fangreader**__`s annual award so I just had to come back and write more. This story is very close to my heart so it`s been a joy to be back with Sookie the Shieldmaiden and I can promise you that it won`t go back into hibernation. I`m very close to having written the full story and I`m planning on posting about once a week or so. _

_I want to thank __**Suki59**__ for nudging me into writing again and for taking the time to beta this chapter not only once, but twice, since I sent her the wrong version first._

_**Charlaine Harris**__ owns all the characters. I`ve just given them a sword and some chainmail._

* * *

><p>"Rasul told you <em>not<em> to help Queen Sophie-Anne?" I asked Alcide. "Didn`t you find that a little strange,given that Rasul is Queen Sophie-Anne`s man?"

My question made an interesting change to Alcide`s smile. It had been an open and happy smile and now it was more sinister. Alcide hadn`t found it strange at all. He`d made plans with Rasul. Plans that somehow included me but I couldn`t figure out how. Alcide apparently wanted to marry me but Rasul had put me in mortal danger.

"Is your allegiance still with Sophie-Anne, Sookie?" Alcide asked. "After what happened, I mean?"

"Did you know about Rasul abducting me?" I asked. My hand was on my sword just in case.

"Rasul?" Alcide frowned and from what I could see he was genuinely surprised. "I thought Felipe did that. I pressed my army forward when my scouts told me what had happened to you but you`d escaped before we could come to your rescue." He took one step forward and I grasped my sword hilt even harder on my sword hilt. "My scouts told me you made a daring escape."

"You came to … save me?" I could hear how my voice was full of doubt but Alcide didn`t seem to notice.

"Of course. You must know that I always liked you and with the abilities you showed at the _blot_ – they will make me a king like no other."

"I`m a shieldmaiden, not a vølve," I stated.

"Amelia said you were the most powerful vølve she`d ever seen. "Alcide must have finally have realized that I hesitated because he stepped even closer. "What`s wrong, Sookie? Can you deny that we were made for one another? Your parents came to help my father. Now you can help me."

"And Eric?"

"I don`t hold him against you, Sookie. Rasul explained how Eric forced you to be with him. You were wise to never marry him in truth." Alcide gave me one of those smiles that could charm anyone. Anyone but me.

"What did you promise Rasul?" I asked.

"Rasul will have a very special role in my kingdom. He`s a very talented …"

"What role?" I interrupted. I just couldn`t listen to Alcide talk about what he`d promised Rasul. "How do you know you can trust him? I`ve seen him double-cross both Sophie-Anne and Felipe. How do you know he isn`t tricking you as well?"

"He swore an oath," Alcide said, as if people couldn`t break sworn oaths.

"When was this?"

"At the _blot_. Rasul came to me after Eric had snatched you out my arms and told me the truth about you and Eric. And about your real desires."

So Rasul had told Alcide I wanted to fight for him against Queen Sophie-Anne, then he`d told Sophie-Anne the same thing, and finally he`d taken me to Felipe, leaving Sophie-Anne to think I was fighting for Felipe. Rasul must be Loke in a different skin and I wondered where his allegiances really lay. Or if he did all this just to cause trouble, like Loke would have.

"Where are your men?" I asked.

"Not far from here. I asked them to wait while I located you."

"And you found me because of Amelia`s directions?"

Alcide looked proud when he nodded.

"It seems Amelia would be a better vølve than I would, then. I have never been able to see where people will be."

"Amelia only has more practice. She`s older …." Alcide`s facial expression told me that Amelia`s age was one of the reasons Alcide hadn`t made her his queen. His nose looked as if he`d smelled something stale.

"Amelia isn`t that old." I wasn`t sure why I was definding Amelia. Maybe it was my old fear of her.

"She`s my mother`s age," Alcide spat. "But she`s promised to train you and you`ll be at least as good as she is. If not better. Together we`ll rule the world." He came another step forward, coming too close for my liking. "I`ll kill Eric for you, Sookie. Don`t worry."

That was when my gut reaction kicked in. Before I could stop myself – and I wasn`t sure I was going to stop myself if I could have – I pulled my sword out and enjoyed the look of shock on Alcide`s face when I separated his head from his body. Actually I enjoyed the look on Alcide`s face more after his head wasn`t attached to his body anymore. If that made me cold, then so be it. He`d threatened to kill Eric.

"I`m not worried," I said to his body.

Afterwards, I wasn`t so sure that what I`d done had been wise. This could mean my death if Alcide`s men caught me and it certainly made the whole situation more complicated. Now we had Felipe`s men with no leader, Alcide`s men with no leader and Sophie-Anne was ruling a country from her sickbed. Healing a lost leg would take time. A lot of time. It was almost an open invitation for foreign powers – a kingdom and two chiefdoms with no leaders. If one looked at it like that I should have kept Alcide alive.

But it had felt good to kill him. Amazing, actually.

I turned around quickly at the snap of a branch behind me, my blood-dripping sword still in my hand.

"Sookie?" Eric came forward, staring at Alcide`s body. "What happened?"

"He wanted me to be his queen." My voice was completely calm and I think that was what made Eric smile. I did notice a little nervous flicker in his eyes, though.

"Remind me to never do that to you, then."

I didn`t want to laugh standing next to a dead body – a dead body I`d been responsible for – but Eric`s remark made my lips twitch and I may have made a snort-like sound. Then my smile dropped and I realized how cold I`d become. How callous. I was a warrior and a killer but my honor was important to me. Laughing at Alcide, his dead face still carrying that innocent look he was so good at, was not honorable.

I wanted to give Eric a shove or maybe kick his shin for having made the joke that had me biting the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from laughing. Instead I focused on the task ahead.

"I think we should leave. Alcide`s army is close by. I`ll tell you what happened on the way."

Eric picked a few oak leaves and handed them to me so I could wipe off my sword. When my sword was back in my belt, he pulled me into his arms, one hand pressing my head into his chest and the other hand at the small of my back.

He kissed the top of my head and inhaled. Then he kissed me on my head again and released me.

There was a cough behind Eric and when he turned around, I noticed both Pam and Claude standing there.

"If you`re through pillaging each other, we have to clean up the mess Sookie has made. As much as I support her in not wanting to become Alcide`s queen, we now have another army with no leader." Pam came forward and gave Alcide`s body a slight kick.

I looked away.

"Did you have to kill him, Sookie?" Claude asked. "This is not helping our cause." He pointed at Alcide`s body and I couldn`t help following the wave of his hand even though I would rather not look at the man I`d killed in the heat of the moment. "Felipe is dead, Alcide is dead, and Sophie-Anne might as well be dead …"

"She`ll be dead when I find her," Pam interrupted.

"Yes, but you know as well as I do what happens to armies with no leaders," Claude continued. "There`ll be anarchy and soon Nordby will be overrun by angry hordes looking for something to loot."

"Why would Alcide`s men be leaderless?" I asked. "We could have them follow us."

"They would follow the woman who`d killed their chief?" Claude asked in his most sarcastic voice.

"Stranger things have happened," I argued. "And they don`t have to know I was the one who landed the blow."

Pam, Eric and Claude were quiet and then, as if a silent command had been given, they all smiled.

"You will go to Alcide`s men and bring them to your side, Sookie," Pam said.

"Me?" A chill ran down my back, thinking about Amelia. If she could tell where I was at any given time, surely she would also know that I`d killed her chief.

Unfortunately, I was the one who`d made the mess of killing Alcide and I was the one who needed to make it right. I was a shieldmaiden, and shieldmaidens never feared for their lives. Or if they did, they never shrank back from a challenge. Not even if that challenge involved magic.

Alcide`s army was so close by, for a moment I worried about what they`d heard in the forest. One never knew how voices were muffled by trees or reflected by rocks. Luckily, it seemed the trees had worked harder than the rocks, at least judging from Amelia`s reception when she saw me. She clearly thought Alcide had convinced me to join their ranks. In a way, he had, only it was they who needed to join our army, not the other way around.

And Alcide was dead.

I held back when Amelia tried to draw me into an embrace and schooled my features into sad ones, which wasn`t hard. I was terrified of the witch, and apparently terror and grief looked approximately the same on my face.

A few warriors stood close by and the rest of them rested on the ground with their swords within reaching distance.

"What`s wrong?" she asked. She touched my arm and then she pulled back as if she`d been burned.

"Alcide is dead," I said, something that had all of the dead chief`s men on their feet. In the commotion, I tried to evaluate Amelia`s reaction, to see if she knew how Alcide had died, but too many people demanded my attention and soon I had to tell the tale I`d carefully spun on my way through the forest.

I told them how I`d been kidnapped by the coward, Rasul – I made sure to call him that and noticed how that had Alcide`s men in a frenzy. I then continued telling them how I`d escaped and that I`d spent the night in the forest with Pam and Eric and their army.

"And today, when we were making our way back to Nordby, we saw Rasul …" I stopped to spit on the ground. "With a bloody sword."

I caught Amelia`s eyes. It was as if she could read my thoughts, and my breath stopped when I saw her open her mouth. I tried to stop her, to speak before her, but it was as if I was left mute by her.

"Rasul has killed Alcide," Amelia stated. I was about to protest when I realized what she`d said. I stared at her. "Isn`t that right, Sookie? The double-crosser, Rasul, has killed our leader?"

I nodded before I could find my voice. Then it came with all its power and I shouted, "Rasul killed Alcide!" I hoped the gods would see the necessity of that lie, cowardly as it was.

It was like putting fire to dry hay. Everyone was shouting and some had pulled their swords.

Amelia held up her arms and the men went quiet. Apparently, I wasn`t the only one who feared her.

"We will follow Sookie and join Eric and Pam!" she declared in that strong voice of hers. "Alcide will be avenged and we will bring peace to our country."

The look she gave me when she`d had every soldier agreeing to join Eric even when their former leader, Alcide, had wanted Eric dead, told me that I owed her. And she was not slow in naming her price. She pulled me into the forest while Alcide`s soldiers were packing their things and extinguishing the fires they`d made.

"You have ruined your parents` hopes for you," she started. When I looked surprised she continued, "your father negotiated for you to be Alcide`s queen even when the two of you were children."

"But Alcide was the son of a chief, not a king," I said.

"The signs for his takeover of the kingdom have been there from his birth. My mother read them and when I grew of age and wisdom, I saw them too. And when you were born, I saw you as a queen. A king needs a queen and a queen needs a king. I told your father and he did as I bid."

"What went wrong?" I asked. I`d never heard of Amelia making a mistake in her predictions. Now it seemed she`d made two.

"You, Sookie. I knew you would kill everyone threatening you but I never realized you would kill your future king and husband. And when I looked for dangers against Alcide, I never saw you as one of them." She sounded more frustrated with her predictions than angry with me. At least for a moment, because with a nod of her head, her eyes turned round and hard. "And now you will make things right again, Sookie. I cannot bring Alcide back to life and he was my assurance of a prosperous future. Now you will give me a new life in exchange for the one you`ve lost for me."

"A new life?" I asked. Would she want me to sacrifice someone in exchange for Alcide`s death?

"You will make me head Vølve when you`re queen. I shall be as powerful as I predicted and you shall make it so."

Eyes cannot change color, but hers looked as if they`d turned black and then silver. I wanted to tell her that I had no ambitions of becoming a queen, but you don`t argue with people with silvery eyes. At least I could do my best to make her head Vølve, whether I ended up as queen or not, so I nodded my consent.

When I came back to Eric and Pam, they were arguing, and loudly. At least loudly enough for me to hear them as I came towards the camp they`d made while waiting for me to bring Alcide`s men over to their cause. They`d pulled away from the camp but in the direction I was coming from.

I soon heard that Eric and Pam weren`t alone even if their voices carried the farthest.

"Maybe we should let the queen live?" It was Bill`s voice. "With Andre gone, Eric, you could rule through her."

"Sophie-Anne is not going to live and that is the last of that." Pam`s voice sounded angry. "No one endangers my children and survives."

I saw them in a clearing and noticed how Pam held her two children close. Eric raised his eyebrows in question and smiled when I nodded affirmation. Yes, I`d brought Alcide`s men with me. I guided the men to our camp and told them to wait while I went back to the small group arguing in the clearing.

"But you can`t fight on two sides," Bill said in a much louder voice than he normally used. "You can`t both fight Sophie-Anne`s people and Felipe`s army."

"True." Pam stopped and looked at Bill. "We will take over Nordby after we`ve killed Sophie-Anne and use our own army against Felipe`s men."

Bill took one step back. "Can that be done?" he asked and looked at Eric.

Eric looked back at Pam. "If Pam thinks it can be done then it can be done."

"Of course, we can overthrow Sophie-Anne if we all agree on it." Her gaze went from one to the other and we all nodded. "I have a plan as to how we can do it," she continued with a smile that should have Queen Sophie-Anne shaking if she`d seen it. "I just need to speak to my brother first."

Bill and I, holding the hands of Pam`s children, went back to the camp to rest. I noticed how Amelia had organized Alcide`s men so that they were mixed in with Eric and Pam`s people and I nodded my approval to her.

Bill glanced at me and I could see him smile out of the corner of my eye.

"You are as good with your mouth as you are with your sword," he said.

"We owe this to Amelia," I said, trying to plant the first seed for her future position as head Vølve. It wouldn`t hurt that Bill knew what we owed her. What I owed her.

I would make sure Eric and Pam knew too.

I noticed how Alcide`s soldiers and even Eric`s and Pam`s people were growing restless while waiting for them. They`d had both food and drink and were now eager for battle – for Nordby to be won before the city was prepared for what was to come – and now they wanted to move on. The only thing missing was leadership. Eric and Pam were still in that clearing where Bill and I had left them, and Claude and I decided they`d had more than enough time to discuss whatever they were discussing.

But they weren`t having a discussion – they were quarreling. I hadn`t walked far from the camp before I heard their voices – one more angry than the other. Eric was the louder of the two.

"No, Pam! I`m not doing it!"

Pam`s voice didn`t carry as well so I couldn`t hear what she was saying, but we could see her agitation by her arms moving up and down, back and forth and sometimes hitting Eric`s arm in the process.

"You`re older than I am, Pam!" Eric shouted.

I turned to Claude. "Do you know what it`s about?" I asked.

"I can guess," he said.

"So what`s your guess?" I asked when he didn`t continue.

Claude looked around and when he was sure no one was listening, he leaned in. "Nordby needs a new regent. And I`m guessing they`re fighting over which one of them it`ll be."

I was just about to ask him more questions when the sibling quarrel stilled and Eric walked over to me. He grabbed my arm, pulled at it and walked me over to Pam.

"Pam wants to talk to you," he said.

I turned to Pam who was shooting daggers at her brother. Then she took a deep breath and gave me a look that told me to shut up and listen.

"Would you stand by Eric if he were king?" she asked.

I was caught by surprise and looked at Eric.

"Do you want to be a king?" I asked and heard Pam huff in annoyance.

"He has to be king, Sookie," Pam explained. "It`s the only way we can get through this mess. Eric takes over from Sophie-Anne, and as the new king he takes control of Felipe`s troops. If Eric refuses to take control it`ll be every man for himself and we all know where that will lead."

Eric`s eyes grew colder while Pam spoke. I took his hand and noticed a light shake of his head. He really didn`t want to be king and I could understand why. I wouldn`t want to be a queen. I was a warrior and so was Eric.

Still holding Eric`s hand I turned to Pam.

"Eric promised me earlier today that he wouldn`t make me his queen," I said while trying to keep my face serious. Eric had said it as a joke when I`d killed Alcide. "You can`t ask him to go back on that promise."

Pam had so many things she wanted to say, the words got caught in her mouth. Before she could utter even a single word, I continued.

"Why don`t you take power? You`re older than Eric and therefore more entitled to the crown – if anyone is entitled to it at all."

"You might not have noticed that I can`t hold onto a sword, Sookie." Pam was angry. "A queen needs to lead her armies into battle."

"Or a queen needs someone she trusts who can do that for her. Why not be the head and Eric and I can be your arms and legs?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of white. Eric was smiling. "You take control of Nordby, and Eric and I take over Felipe`s army in your name."

Claude coughed lightly and I took his hand to acknowledge him. "And you wouldn`t only have Eric and me to wield the swords you can`t hold yourself. Claude could stay close to you, guard you and be the head of the army defending Nordby when Eric and I are on foreign soil. You would have more than enough sword hands even if your own lacks a few fingers."

Claude grinned. "I could be the queen`s consort," he offered.

That made Pam laugh too. "Indeed you could." Then she looked back at Eric and me. "And what of your children? This choice will make Quinn and Frannie the next in line to the throne – not your offspring."

I wanted to tell her that I was never going to have any children but Eric gave my hand a squeeze.

"I think the events these past days have proven that Quinn would make a great king, and Frannie would be just as fierce a queen. Our children would be honored to serve their cousins."

The proud look on Pam`s face stopped me from making any further comments on the topic of the next generation on Nordby`s throne. First we needed to actually take over Nordby and we needed to do it quickly.

"To get back to the topic we should be addressing now, Pam," I said. "I think you and Claude should go back to Nordby and take over the city as quickly as possible."

"And Rasul and Sophie-Anne?" Pam asked. I couldn`t decipher her voice. Was she mocking me or asking me for advice? I`d just denounced any aspiration to the title of queen of Nordby and now I was giving what could be looked upon as orders.

It was a new situation for me to make suggestions as to the strategy of a battle. I`d always claimed I was a warrior, not a strategist, when Sam had asked me what I thought of this or that situation but now I found myself wanting to be part of planning the solution to our problem – not just the executer of it.

I took a few moments to think; then offered my suggestion. "Kill Sophie-Anne quietly. Everyone knows she`s close to dying, and no one will be surprised if she dies in her sleep. Make sure you`re accepted as the new queen, and quickly."

I took a deep breath.

"And kill Rasul immediately and very publicly. Execute him and leave him no honor. Cut out his tongue, take his hands and give them to the dogs. Make a public speech where you tell everyone what Rasul has done – how he conspired against everyone." I thought for a moment, then shook my head. "No, let Amelia touch him first. We need to know who he`s working for and what he`s planning. Then let her say what she has seen so everyone can hear." I hoped this would be one step in the direction of securing Amelia the position she wanted.

"And then we cut out his tongue, take his hands and give them to the dogs?" Claude asked.

"And then we cut out his tongue, take his hands and give them to the dogs," I confirmed and though I tried not to smile, I couldn`t help letting my lip curl just a little.

Eric grinned. "I really want to fuck you and rub myself all over you when you`re bloodthirsty like that, Sookie."

Pam groaned and rolled her eyes. "Please stop, Eric. I don`t want to lose what little I`ve had to eat today."

We started walking back towards the people waiting for us.

Eric pretended he didn`t hear his sister. "People need to know that Rasul conspired with Felipe. That`s very important. They have to know that you were kidnapped, Sookie." He gave my hand a squeeze. "I don`t want anyone thinking you double-crossed us."

"Don`t you think they realized that when they saw me with Felipe`s knife on my throat?" I asked.

"If they knew you, the fact that you`re wearing that..." He pointed at the dress I was still wearing. "… is a sure sign that you weren`t with Felipe voluntarily."

I looked at Eric who was keeping a straight face but when I started laughing, so did he. Pam and Claude joined in.

It wasn`t that what Eric had said had been that funny, but I suppose we needed to relieve ourselves of some tension.

Pam was the first one to stop laughing and while I dried my face to force it into a more serious look, she started talking again.

"Your idea is good, Sookie. It`s a chance to divide a small group like ours, but I don`t think you or Eric would help us at all in Nordby. Not until Rasul is dead. I`m not sure how the two of you will manage to convince Felipe`s troops to follow you but my brother has a silver tongue …. "

"Oh, Sookie knows all about my talented tongue," Eric said and then he let out a huff because of that elbow of mine he received between his ribs.

"Thank you for that image, Eric. What I wanted to say was that Eric could sell extra legs to Sleipnir if he wanted to. If they`ll let him speak, he`ll have them following him anywhere."

"So the challenge is to make them listen to us," I concluded.

"It is."

After having figured out the last details to our plan, we asked everyone to get up, and we gave them an outline. Eric and I would try to locate Felipe`s army, and Pam and the rest of the group would go to Nordby where they would kill Sophie-Anne and Rasul and make everyone else follow them.

What could go wrong?

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

So what did you think?

I usually add some historical facts and thoughts here, but this time I`ll pimp my blog instead as I`ve posted plenty of Viking facts, cartoons, ideas and silliness there. The address is **Thyra10. wordpress. com **(remove spaces).

If you want to go vote at the Fangreader`s award – and it certainly doesn`t have to me for my story since the nomination includes so many great stories (for instance Ooshka`s, FiniteAnarchy`s and Chicpea`s – and several more that I can`t remember off the top of my head) – the address is ** esurv** dot **org **slash** online-survey. php?surveyID = OLEONO_8d5af02a&u = Fangies2013** (remove spaces and add a dot and a slash).


	27. Chapter 27

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden - chapter 27**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for all the reviews to the last chapter. It`s great to see that the story wasn`t entirely forgotten while hibernating. It was also great to see that it had so many new followers. I hope you liked the last chapter – and the fact that this story is back in circulation. I know I love writing again!

I want to thank **Suki59** for her great betaing and if you need something new to read – go read her entry to the Sookie`s Happy Ever After Contest. It`s called **Sookie`s Super-Duper Happy Ending** and it`s just hilarious!

* * *

><p>"Where in Odin`s name are they?" Eric asked for the fifth time.<p>

We`d walked all the way back to the battlefield to follow the tracks of Felipe`s army but now it was as if they`d vanished into thin air. Had the Valkyries come down to fly them all away? Had some magical power transported them to a different place?

A whole army couldn`t go anywhere without leaving traces.

We`d found the camp where I`d spent the night and where Heidi had dressed me up as a woman. A real woman. An ordinary woman. And we`d found tracks leading out of that camp. They`d gone to the sea and for a moment we wondered if they`d sailed away but then we found tracks leading away from the beach and followed them over a heath and into a swamp where we had to stop unless we wanted to be swallowed by the mud.

"You don`t suppose they`ve all drowned out there?" I pointed at the foul smelling area where the tracks had ended.

"One or two might have, but not all of them. They aren`t that stupid," Eric said.

I knew he was right but it would have been a nice solution to it all if all of Felipe`s men had done us the favor and walked into the swamp and died.

We walked a bit back and forth, trying to determine if some of them had managed to walk around the swamp. Maybe they`d climbed the trees to be on the safe side and then jumped down on the other side? I looked up and quickly rejected that idea. The trees weren`t close enough to climb all the way around the swamp.

"Could they be hiding somewhere?" I asked but I knew the answer was no. There weren`t any places to hide more than one or two people.

Eric didn`t answer but looked at the ground again. He paced the forest floor and finally he seemed to have come to a conclusion.

"They tricked us," he said.

"How?"

"They went by boat but sent a group out here to make us think they just passed the beach. Look at this." He pointed at a footpring in the mud. "The deepest area is turned the wrong way. This person was walking away from the swamp. Not towards it. Half the footprints are wrong."

The foul taste of failure filled my mouth.

"We need to hurry back to the beach. They may be gathering more people and we need to be ready for them," I said and Eric and I started running. I quickly hitched the skirt of my dress into my belt and once again I swore at the impractical piece of clothing.

I was in good shape but Eric had longer legs than I so he set the pace a bit faster than what I found comfortable. But I knew the lives of Claude, Jason, Tara, Pam and her children might depend on us making it back to the beach before they were attacked from the sea. A surprise attack was the last thing Pam needed in her quest to become the queen of Nordby.

When I felt bile in my mouth from running too fast and too long, I stopped for a few moments and threw up. Eric stopped too and gave me his flask of water. I drank a few sips – not too much or I would just be throwing it up when we started running again – and handed him his flask back.

"Thank you," I panted and started running again.

Eric stayed behind me now and I appreciated it. I probably set just as quick a pace as the one Eric had but it`s always easier to run fast when you`re the one deciding just how fast you`re going to run.

When we were at the outskirts of Nordby I slowed down and finally I stopped. Pam had only been in Nordby half a day and we had no idea how far she`d come with the plan we`d made. Our suddenly making our appearance may ruin everything for her.

"They`ll come by sea," Eric said. "If they come at all. They may have gone home."

"Let`s find a place to keep watch of the ocean then."

We walked down to the beach just as the sun was setting and making a beautiful pattern of yellow, orange and purple on the water. Eric grabbed my hand and pulled me into a kiss. I wasn`t entirely comfortable since I`d thrown up not that long ago so instead of letting him kiss my mouth I moved my head to the side and gave him access to my neck. Too late, I remembered that my neck was sweaty from running but it couldn`t be helped and Eric didn`t seem to mind.

I pulled his flask from his belt and drank a few more sips while taking care that every tooth and bit of tongue were thoroughly cleaned.

"I couldn`t care less, Sookie," Eric whispered in my ear, his breath making little butterflies fly from the skin on my neck to all those sensitive spots on my body. "I`ve long ago reconciled with the fact that you throw up from time to time." Then he laughed.

I gave his upper arm a slap but he just grabbed my butt and pulled me even closer while kissing me again – this time on my newly rinsed mouth.

Eric`s large hand on my behind and his tongue in my mouth had me panting more than I`d done while running. Since the skirt of my dress was already hitched up, Eric`s hands didn`t have to lift it much to have full access to my naked skin.

I sucked in my breath when I felt his finger moving in between my thighs and I opened my legs to give him easier access.

"Dresses have their purposes too," Eric mumbled into my mouth.

"They do," I said and worked my hands down his chest to the opening of his pants. Soon I worked him the way he worked me and we were both moaning and groaning and our kissing became sloppier.

"You have to stop," Eric whispered. "I don`t want to … I want to …."

And then he pulled away from my hand, lifted me up and with my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, he ground himself inside me.

We were terrible guards because Felipe`s men and ten other armies could have come while Eric and I tried to become one in a rhythm that was more and more frantic as our arms and legs were completely strained.

But the passion, the emotions, the wonderful feeling running through my body gave me new strength and the same seemed to happen to Eric because instead of lying down and finishing what we`d started there, Eric ground himself into me as I ground myself into him.

A wild stallion rode through my body and it kicked off an orgasm so very different from the ones I`d experienced before. I couldn`t hold back the strange sound I moaned into Eric`s mouth and it must have sparked off something in Eric because he ground himself even deeper into me, and just as I went out in free fall, Eric`s legs gave out and he dropped to his knees, shivers running through his body.

We fell down in the sand, Eric half on top of me and half on his side.

"By Freya," Eric groaned. "If you weren`t my wife already, I`d ask you to marry me."

I smiled. "You never did, you know."

"What?"

"Ask me to marry you."

Eric lay still for a moment and then, instead of asking me to marry him, he gave me a reply that was typical of the high-handed man I`d married – well, sort of married – he just said, "No, I suppose I didn`t." And then he kissed the tip of my nose.

I slapped his shoulder, got up and went down to the water to wash a bit and also to clear my head. We were in the middle of what might be life or death, not only for us but for our families and friends, and we couldn`t afford to relax too much.

Standing knee-deep in the water, I tried to think about everything that had happened. Felipe who had tried to take over and who`d used Rasul to kidnap me to get Eric to leave Sophie-Anne. Alcide who`d thought he could be king with me as his queen – all courtesy of Rasul`s lies. And, of course, Sophie-Anne who`d wanted me to come fight for her so much that she`d sent her second-in-command to retrieve me and yet, when I was there because Eric had married me instead of Andre, she`d acted hostile, not only towards me but also towards Eric. And Rasul had been the one who`d whispered those lies in her ears.

The key to everything was Rasul. Rasul and the ambition of Felipe, Alcide and Sophie-Anne.

But why had Rasul tried to get the three regents and potential regents to fight each other? Which one of them had his ultimate loyalty?

Not Sophie-Anne or he would never have kidnapped me. But did Rasul support Felipe or Alcide? He could have been Felipe`s man and only convinced Alcide about holding back his support to Sophie-Anne – and ultimately fighting against her – because he wanted to weaken Sophie-Anne before Felipe was going to fight her.

But it would gain Felipe another enemy. Someone else to fight after he`d beaten Sophie-Anne. And everyone knew that an army just out of battle did not need another enemy to fight.

Rasul could also be Alcide`s man, looking to weaken both Sophie-Anne and Felipe before Alcide would take over, but somehow that seemed wrong too. If he`d wanted Alcide as king and me as Alcide`s queen, then why have Felipe abduct me? And why create distrust between Sophie-Anne and me? It didn`t fit.

Alcide had wanted power and so had Felipe. That much was clear. Three people wanted to sit on the same throne and that would mean that two of them had to die – not all three. Why wasn`t one of the three victorious now?

A reluctant Pam would have to take over the throne and I couldn`t see how she could be the one conspiring to have Alcide, Felipe and Sophie-Anne all killed.

There had to be another factor. Something we hadn`t thought of.

I dipped my head in the water even if I hated salt water in my hair. Salt made it sticky and impossible to comb. But I needed to cool down. I needed to think.

Because there was something in this picture I couldn`t see.

Eric came up behind me and started washing himself.

"Who is Rasul?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you know about him? Who is his family? Was he born and raised in Nordby?"

Eric was quiet for a few moments and all I could hear was water dripping, apart from the waves hitting the shore and seagulls arguing over something in the distance. I turned around and saw him wringing water out of his long blond hair.

"I`m not sure," he finally said. "I`ve never been introduced to anyone who claimed to be Rasul`s kin but he had plenty of friends to make up for it. Rasul is a man no one disliked."

I nodded. I`d liked Rasul as well even if I hadn`t known him. Maybe that was our problem? Maybe we`d trusted Rasul because he was likable?

"If he didn`t serve Felipe or Alcide, then who was he working for?" I asked after a while.

Eric shrugged and I knew he felt like I did. We were warriors and could handle any battle, any fight. But this – having an unknown enemy on top of the two known ones – one could wet ones breeches over less.

We stared out at the waves and a sudden chill ran down my spine. Did we have an unknown enemy on top of the ones we were already fighting?

We might be able to convince Felipe`s men to put down their arms just like we had Alcide`s soldiers. But an unknown army? Would we even stand a chance?

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I hope you liked this chapter. The next won`t be too long away. Two weeks, perhaps?

Instead of giving you half a history lesson here, I`ll pimp my blog again. **Thyra10 dot wordpress dot** com. Check it out and let me know if there`s some special bit of Viking- or Scandinavia information you would like me to write about.


	28. Chapter 28

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 28**

**A/N:**  
><em>Let me first begin with a word of wisdom: Do always – I mean ALWAYS – take backup of your hard drive. I didn`t and lost most of what I`ve written since August when some computer consultant deleted everything after having promised me he would do a backup. Luckily I`d just sent Sookie the Shieldmaiden to my brilliant beta Suki59 but I`ve lost so many other things I was working on. <em>_And, for a little while, I lost the joy of writing. _

_But I`m back in the saddle and here is another chapter:_

* * *

><p>I found a place to hide in the dunes. Lying on my stomach in the deep grass, I stared towards the beach, not sure what to expect. If I was lucky, Pam would have conquered Nordby, killed Sophie-Anne and convinced the soldiers to join her.<p>

If I was really lucky, Pam would now lead both Alcide`s and Sophie-Anne`s armies on top of the small band of renegades who`d joined us in the forest, and they would all be ready to fight.

And if the gods looked favorably on us, Pam and her warriors would be at the beach before whatever army Rasul was working for, came ashore. Not to mention Felipe`s army. Those warriors may be without a leader but that didn`t mean they had given up. Or that they would swear allegiance to Pam. If indeed Pam agreed on becoming the next queen of Nordby.

All the unknowns. I hated them. I hated them so much that I would gladly walk unarmed into a battle against twenty men if it would only gain me some answers.

Of course, I could very well end up in a battle, all alone, against twenty men and twice that number. If Pam for some reason did not manage to win in Nordby, I would be here on the beach, all by myself.

I took a deep breath. I could live with a battle, me against an army. Or rather, I could die with it, which wasn`t such a bad prospect. At least it would mean using my sword. If I died, I would go to Valhalla and that would please me very much. I could also end up in Freia`s Hall, which wouldn`t be too bad. I`d always been afraid of ending up in Hel – something which would happen if I died from sickness or an accident. If I proved myself brave, even in a battle I could never win, the Valkyries would have to take notice and bring me to Valhalla.

I shook my head. Thinking about dying was not a good way to prepare for battle. Instead, I emptied my brain – thought of nothing but how the breeze moved the grass and how the waves hit the sandy beach. I stared at the ocean and listened for any sounds out of the ordinary. I was ready. I was prepared.

That was when I heard the wind catch something that wasn`t the dunes or the grass. Someone was coming from behind me.

Slowly, I turned my head while grabbing my sword. I went into a deep crouch in the high grass, narrowed my eyes against the sun and looked in the direction of the sound. At first I saw nothing but then I noticed a movement.

I held my breath while trying to see what was making the movement and when I found that it was a person – the gods were favorable because it was just the one person – I tried to see who it was.

It was a short person which for some strange reason made me relax in my crouch. I knew better than anyone that short people could be dangerous warriors. I`d beaten Eric, who was much taller than I was, several times.

But there was something about this particular short person. Something familiar. It was someone I`d seen recently. Someone I didn`t trust entirely but also someone I didn`t exactly fear.

Then I recognized who it was. Heidi. Heidi, the Facepainter.

That wasn`t her name, of course, but that was who she was to me. A person who followed Felipe`s orders from fear more than from love. And one of her orders had been to paint my face when Felipe was using me to bargain against Sophie-Anne.

It seemed like ages ago, but I might still be wearing traces of the paint she`d smeared onto my face.

I followed her with my eyes to see what she was doing. Was she the one who`d made those footprints we`d followed? Had she made it harder for us to catch Felipe`s men? To make them come to our side of the battle – or kill them?

She looked back and forth but her path was straight towards the beach, close to where I was watching her every move. I cast a quick glance around to make sure I wasn`t taken by surprise by some of her tribesmen, but she and I were alone.

I was ready with my knife when she came closer, but even if she looked in my direction, she didn`t seem to see me. She passed me too close for comfort but kept walking. When she came down to the beach, she did something very strange. She sat down just where the grass ended and the sand dunes started. I could see the back her head and shoulders while she was staring out over the ocean.

Quietly, I turned my body so I could see all of the ocean but I couldn`t see what she was staring at. No ships. Not even a small boat was out on the ocean today.

She sat there for quite a while and I watched her like a cat watches a mouse. When it seemed as if she would stay there and that no one was going to join her, I crawled closer. Very slowly. Very quietly.

The wind blew in from the beach, so I knew Heidi wouldn`t be able to smell me. And I was as quiet as it was humanly possible. This was why my heart almost leaped out of my chest when she suddenly spoke.

"If you`re there, Sookie, I`d like to talk to you."

She had to know I was close because she wasn`t shouting and she hadn`t moved. It was as if she were speaking to someone sitting next to her.

I jumped forward and placed my knife on her throat – just to be on the safe side.

"Why?"

She took a deep breath and I moved my knife so it wasn`t touching her skin, only hovered close to her throat, ready to strike.

"We want to join you." She sounded confident but I heard a slight catch in her voice.

"Who?"

I moved closer to her so that I was just behind her. If she`d planned an attack I could use her as a shield – or I could push her forward and suffocate her in the sand. No, I did not trust her.

"More than half of Felipe`s people." She paused. "Almost all of them."

"Almost?"

"A few chose to follow Rasul."

I must have made a sound because she looked over her shoulder, very carefully.

"We met Rasul and he took some of our people that way." She pointed in the direction where Eric and I had been.

"What did he want with them?" I asked.

"I`m not sure. He made promises I never trusted. But some men want to believe in huge fortunes waiting for them – especially in the situation they found themselves in after Felipe`s death."

The situation could best be described as life threatening. They couldn`t be sure Sophie-Anne wouldn`t retaliate.

"And the rest of you?"

Heidi turned back and stared out over the ocean. "They went home. I told them we should make peace before we left but they were anxious to get back to their families. I was left here as their representative." She paused and looked at me. "Because they thought I knew you."

I felt sorry for her all of a sudden. Her people had been anxious to see their families one last time before they were killed and their houses burned to the ground – or that was probably what they had thought. But Heidi wasn`t even allowed that much. I cursed the cowards. We could have had good use of any warrior ready to swear allegiance to Pamela. Or Eric.

"So they left you here?"

She nodded, and I realized how brave she`d been. All alone, she`d stayed behind in what might very well be enemy country to her. She`d stayed in the hopes that she could make peace between Queen Sophie-Anne and what was left of Felipe`s people.

"How did you know I was here?"

"I hid in one of the trees you and Eric ran under. I waited until I saw Eric leave." She shrugged but from the blush that crept up her neck I knew she`d seen more than just Eric and me running by.

I pulled my knife away from her throat and got up. Heidi looked up and when I nodded, she got up as well. Then I stretched out my arm and she took my hand.

"Welcome, Heidi. I appreciate that you stayed behind."

She smiled and with her smile the realization came that our chances were suddenly much better at winning Nordby. We had Alcide`s army on our side and we didn`t have to worry about Felipe`s warriors.

But what was Rasul up to?

I suddenly wished Eric and I hadn`t turned back when the tracks had seemed dubious. Maybe they`d been made that way to trick us? To double-trick us. We`d thought the tracks had been made to trick us into thinking whoever had made them had come back again towards Nordby. Instead they`d tricked us into thinking just that – and kept on walking in the direction they`d started in.

What fools we`d been.

Or maybe Rasul truly was Loke, walking among us humans only to have fun with us.

I found myself doing what I hated– thinking things over and trying to find a solution – when I heard noise coming from Nordby`s direction.

People.

People wearing metal.

As in chain mail and weapons.

I smiled. This was what I knew – fighting.

I grabbed my sword, crouched down in a kneeling position and pulled Heidi down next to me. She was only carrying the small knife everyone carried but she pulled it out of its sheath and stared in the direction of the sound.

The anticipation was killing me. What army were we waiting for? Was it Eric and Pam – having won over Sophie-Anne`s people so quickly?

Or was it …?

I tightened the grip on my sword. If this was indeed Queen Sophie-Anne`s army, I would be fighting an unknown number of people all alone. Heidi didn`t count. Even if Sophie-Anne was hurt and couldn`t fight herself, her army would be too large for me to handle.

But I would try. Because if Eric and Pam hadn`t won the battle of Nordby then that would mean that they were both dead or suffering a fate worse than death. Jason would probably be dead too. And Claude. Not to mention Tara.

And if everyone was dead, then this would be as good a day as any to honor the gods with my blood and my willingness to go to a battle where the odds were against me.

I`d looked death in the eye for quite some time now and I was as ready as I`d ever be.

Heidi and I waited. She didn`t know we might die soon. Or maybe she did and had accepted her fate, just like I had. I couldn`t tell her that Pam might be the new queen of Nordby and we would be saved or that Pam might be dead and then we would be too, because the wind would carry my voice in the direction of the soldiers and even if we were about to die, we didn`t have to make it too easy for them to kill us.

So I kept my mouth shut and my eyes fixed in the direction of the soldiers I couldn`t see yet. I wished Eric and I had arranged some kind of signal so I would know everything was well. I wasn`t a coward, but waiting for warriors who could bring your death or your friends was hard. I felt a wave of nausea rumble through my stomach and was happy I hadn`t eaten anything or I would probably have thrown up and given up our position with the loud sounds of vomiting.

I swallowed as quietly as I could and I heard Heidi take a quick breath when the first men were visible. They wore helmets and chain mail, had swords in their hands, and they looked ready for battle.

I squinted to see if I could recognize any of them. Some were tall, some were small. One of them had red braids but I couldn`t remember any redheads in Nordby.

And then I saw him. Tall and broad shouldered, long blond hair braided in two braids. I even imagined I could see the cool blue eyes behind the slits of the helmet.

Eric.

I looked again just to be sure that Eric was commanding the men, not being held hostage by them, and then I got up. With a large grin on my face, I waved at Eric.

By Freia, I was happy to see him!

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

_So what did you think of all the rumors about the last book in the SVM series? After the first shock and surprise, I must admit that I`m even more intrigued. _

_If you want alternative endings to the SVM tale, there`s a brilliant contest running right now called The Happily Ever After contest. My beta __**Suki59**__ wrote a hilarious story for that contest and I can really recommend that you read it. The vote is up now. Just saying ;-)_


	29. Chapter 29

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 29**

**A/N:**

I`m so grateful for all the readers this story has – old and new – and I want to thank you for each and every review and comment I`ve received. They warm my heart!

I also want to thank** Suki59** for betaing this story – and my new post-DEA story **Dead among Friends and Neighbors**. She is an amazing beta and friend.

Sookie and all the other characters belong to **Charlaine Harris.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 29<strong>

Eric didn`t trust Heidi; that much was obvious from the way he looked at her. She seemed to find his distrust natural and accepted it.

He did allow her to accompany us back to Nordby after he`d placed guards on the beach, in the forest and at all the entrances to Nordby. Apparently the takeover of Nordby had been bloodless unless one counted Queen Sophie-Anne`s blood and no one seemed to do that. She wasn`t mentioned or mourned and I couldn`t help wondering if they`d thrown her body to the dogs.

Eric and Pam had briefly discussed what they wanted to do with Felipe`s men who`d gone home but they finally agreed on – or rather, Eric accepted Pam`s decision – that they weren`t important. So no retaliation and no beating them into accepting Pam as their sovereign. Not yet, at least.

Rasul and his plans were the biggest worry and everyone was ordered to fortify the defenses of Nordby and prepare for war. A war we didn`t know when to expect – or if it would come at all.

As the days went by, Eric grew restless and frustrated. He wanted to go after Rasul and kill him. And kill whichever king Rasul worked for. His problem was that he didn`t know what king this might be.

Some nights he made plans for killing each and every king within a month`s journey by boat and some nights he`d almost convinced himself that Rasul was really Loke and that we wouldn`t see him again. That Loke was laughing at us somewhere because we`d fallen for all his tricks.

But most nights Eric and I would make love and most days we would practice with our swords. And when the flowers were in full bloom, the apples were almost ripe on the trees and the sun was warmer in the sky but went earlier to the ground in the evening, we felt prepared for whatever attack Nordby might encounter.

I`d started eating better and, though I worked out more, I also grew rounder, something Eric did not object to at all. I had a few moments where I worried about how my rounder body would perform in battle but knocking Eric over a few times on the practice ground put those worries to sleep. Eric was a great fighter and I figured that I wasn`t in too bad a shape if I could beat him.

Sometimes at night – at least those nights when Eric and I had made love and I had knocked him over on the practice ground earlier – not the nights when he planned on killing any and all members of a royal family he could stick his sword into and I`d lost to him when we practiced– a strange feeling of contentment rolled over me. I would lie with my head on his chest, listening to his snores and catch myself smiling.

Those moments were good but they were painful too because I knew they couldn`t last. Sooner or later – and definitely before winter made any attacks impossible – Rasul would have gotten back to whatever king he`d sworn his allegiance to and would have reported on a country weakened by inner strife.

Pam sent out spies to see who was planning attacks but they`d come home empty-handed. In one case, without hands at all. Spies were rather unpopular.

But really, all we could do was wait. And prepare.

One night I woke up to the sound of the door opening and closing. I grabbed the knife I kept in the bed and gave Eric a small kick. He was awake and holding his own knife before I`d turned my head towards the door.

When I saw it was Amelia standing in the doorway, letting in a little bit of moonlight, I relaxed my hold on my knife and got out of bed. Amelia wouldn`t have bothered us in the middle of the night if there wasn`t something wrong. Both Eric and I got dressed and I could hear movement in the other end of the house as well. Soon Pam, Claude and Jason joined us around the table. Tara rekindled the fire and lit a wax candle which she placed in the middle of the table. Then she sat down too.

"They`ll attack in the morning," Amelia said.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "How do you know?"

"I just know it," she said and I knew she was correct. And if Amelia was sure we were going to be attacked then we`d better be prepared.

We ate a quick breakfast. Then we all pulled on our chain mail and helmets, made sure our weapons were in a perfect condition and walked out. Apparently we weren`t the only ones who`d been awakened because the town square was filled with battle-ready men and women. Even a couple of older children were there with their bows and arrows.

I took a deep breath, smelled the early morning air and smiled. Finally we would have our battle. We didn`t know who we were fighting or how strong they were but we were ready for them.

Pam pointed at different groups of soldiers and the direction she was sending them. Some were to man the walls, some to watch the gates and some were sent into the forest and down to the beach to gather information.

I looked at Eric who was as tense as I was and suddenly, as if the same thought had crossed both of our minds at the same time, he bent down while I reached up and we shared a hard and deep kiss. It was over almost as soon as it had begun, but it gave me courage.

We were going to win and Eric and I were going to survive. The gods would not have let a shieldmaiden be attached to the wifely life with a warrior if they hadn`t planned on letting her enjoy it for more than a summer. I felt sure of that.

Pam had given Eric and me command over different groups of warriors and soon we walked in the opposite direction from each other. Eric was to fight at the south gate – I at the north one. I was proud that she`d put me in command and I hoped it wasn`t just because I was Eric`s wife. That I`d somehow proven myself. I`d never been in command before but I hoped I`d learned from Sam since his command was the one I`d fought under almost all my life.

I could feel the nerves but also the determination among my men. They were a mixture of men from Nordby and a few of Alcide`s men. Not all of them had wanted to go home – or rather, not all of them had been given the choice. Nordby was the heart of the kingdom and therefore Nordby`s defense was more important than the defense of all the smaller villages and cities in the country.

When we came to the large gate, I looked up. The sky was clear and the sun was rising. I said a silent prayer to the gods and hopedI would make them proud. I also told them that Rasul would not be spared even if he turned out to be Loke.

Rasul was mine to kill.

Everyone capable with a bow was situated on the wall and I climbed the ladder.

"Is everyone ready?" I asked Tara, who looked more than ready, staring out at the meadows north of Nordby.

She nodded but didn`t take her eyes off the meadows. If any warriors were to surprise her, they would have to fly in to do so.

I shouted down to the boys and girls who were too young to fight to get buckets of water. We would need them if Rasul`s men shot burning arrows, and I also knew the kids needed something to do. They needed to feel a part of this.

The old men and women of Nordby were standing behind the warriors, facing the gate, checking their spears. They were too old to fight but we all knew that every man and woman counted when the city was under attack. An old woman with a spear could kill just as well as a young one.

We were ready and what was left now was the waiting and the anticipation. If Rasul had told his true master that Nordby could be easily won, then he was in for a surprise.

I was just about to say another prayer to the gods when the distinct sound of an arrow hitting the outside of our wall made me turn and look at Tara. She`d already sent an arrow away and had picked up a new one. So had the other bowmen.

I looked out to see what they were shooting at and saw two bodies on the ground far out in the distance close to the forest – killing them was quite an accomplishment. I couldn`t see anyone moving.

"Are there more?" I asked.

"Not that I can see," Tara said.

"Why would they only send two?"

"Maybe we scared the rest of them away." Tara looked as if she believed her own theory but I knew that no one came to fight a battle only to give up just because two people had been killed.

"Well done so far," I said to the men on the wall and they all nodded while staring at the land outside the gates of Nordby.

I turned around to the warriors waiting impatiently for a battle. "Two men came. Two men went down," I shouted and everyone cheered. It was a good rule to celebrate every little victory. But soon they went quiet again. We all knew that the battle wasn`t won with two men killed.

If we`d been impatiently waiting for the battle to come, the two men firing arrows at us and being killed for their trouble had only made it worse. I noticed men stomping, men holding their swords so hard their knuckles had turned white, and for some their breath was so shallow it couldn`t be healthy.

"Everyone, sheath your swords!" I shouted. Yes, we needed to be prepared but no one was going to come through our gates so quickly the men wouldn`t have time to pull out their weapons.

I could almost hear the collective breath that was being released and went back to staring at the bushes and at the forest so far away I had to squint.

The sun was coming up and was heating us up. Helmets and chain mail weren`t perfect on a hot summer day. I was just wiping my cheek – since I couldn`t wipe my brow and something needed to be wiped – when I heard a noise. First I heard a single loud scream, as if a woman was in pain. Then there was the sound of metal against metal, and I stared in all directions to determine where it came from, but it wasn`t from any of the walls we were meant to guard.

"Go check what is happening!" I shouted at the kids and pointed them in different directions. If an attack had started on one of the other sides of Nordby, they would need some of my men.

The kids ran off and the soldiers, who`d all taken a seat somewhere on the ground, were up and grabbing their swords. Tara was holding an arrow to her bow, ready to fire at anyone deserving an arrow in his neck.

More noise came and I didn`t like the sounds of people screaming in pain. Listening to a battle was much worse than participating in it.

Then suddenly Tara made a noise and fired an arrow. Before I could check what she was firing at, her fellow bowmen did the same, and arrows flew into the walls from the outside.

All the warriors waiting for battle kept their shields high but not a single arrow flew over the wall. I knew we had to keep the gates closed for as long as possible. It was our best chance. But just like the men, I was burning for some real battle and not just shooting arrows at each other. No offense to Tara, but there was more honor in the sword than in the bow.

"Eric Northman has gone through the gates!" a boy shouted between pants. He was still running while shouting.

"What?!" I shouted back. Why would Eric go through the gates? We were supposed to hold the gates, not open them and walk outside. I wanted an open battle as much as the next warrior, but opening the gates was just plain stupid. And Eric wasn`t stupid.

"Eric Northman has gone through the gates," the boy repeated, apparently believing that my question was because I hadn`t heard him the first time.

"Why would he do that?" I asked but the boy just shrugged. "Were the gates open or closed when you were there?" I asked him.

"They were closed. Eric Northman only opened them a little, ran through, and the gates were closed again."

"What are you saying? Did he go alone?"

The boy half shrugged, half nodded. "I think he went alone."

"Go back there and find out what has happened!" I ordered one of the older men, a former warrior who was as ready for battle as any of the young men with their swords.

The old man ran as quickly as his legs could carry him and I turned around and stared out over the walls. What was Eric thinking? Why had he gone outside the gates?

The old man was gone a long time and my nerves were anything but calm. It was too quiet, almost as if everyone was holding their breath – which they probably were.

I couldn`t think of one good reason for Eric to go outside the walls all by himself. He was in command of a group of soldiers and the one in command never went on a suicide mission. At least not unless there was no one else to do the job. And Eric had plenty of men he could have sent instead of going himself.

I cursed and then I kicked the wooden wall. The curse helped but hurting my toe certainly didn`t. So I cursed some more and refrained from any kicking.

Finally the old man returned but he didn`t shout his message to me. Instead he motioned for me to come down. I quickly climbed down the ladder.

"What has happened?" I asked but the old man led me away from the men before he replied.

"It seems Eric was tricked."

"How?" I held back a gasp and tried to keep the shock from my face. I didn`t want to worry my men.

"Do you remember the first scream we heard?" the old man asked and I nodded. "Eric was sure it was you and went out to rescue you."

"Eric went out alone to rescue me when I`m standing right here?" I couldn`t believe what I was hearing. Why hadn`t he at least checked to see if I was where I was supposed to be?

"A scout reported that he`d seen you outside. "

"Let me talk to the scout," I said and moved to walk away from the old man but his surprisingly strong hand landed on my shoulder.

"The scout is dead. He went back outside the walls with Eric but earned an arrow in the neck from someone hiding in the woods."

I cursed, this time louder and worse. Soon I would have used up all the profanity I knew. "And now they expect me to go rescue Eric," I mumbled to myself.

I quickly went up the ladder again and looked out over the wall. Nothing. Then I looked at Tara and made sure she was looking back at me.

"You`re in charge of the men for now, Tara. I may be back shortly or it may take a while. Are you up for it?" Tara wasn`t a born warrior but this summer had shown new sides of her. She still wasn`t good with a sword but with luck, there wouldn`t be any sword fighting until I returned.

I climbed down the ladder before Tara could protest – though I did hear her shout after me – and ran towards the southern gates. I was halfway there when I heard someone yelling my name. I turned around.

"How did you get back, Sookie?" It was Pam.

"I was never outside the wall, Pam."

She gaped. "But the scout saw you."

I shook my head. "Rasul is a trickster, Pam. You and Eric should know that."

I was annoyed at Eric for being fooled and Pam was closest to take the brunt of my anger. How could they have fallen for Rasul`s games?

Pam looked away and then anger became part of her features as well. "Eric …," she started.

"Why did he leave?" I asked, though I knew the answer. I was ready to go outside the walls myself to save him – just as he`d done for me. Which was exactly what Rasul was expecting. What he was waiting for.

Pam never answered my question. She just rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"How do I get outside the walls without being seen?" I didn`t want to become another victim of Rasul`s tricks.

Pam focused on me and relaxed her jaw. "That`s an excellent question, Sookie, and one I wish Eric had asked. I remember there were tunnels under the walls from when I lived here as a little girl. We just need to find those tunnels."

"Has anyone kept the tunnels open?"

"Not that I know of but they were well built and might just need a little work for you to get through. The best thing is, since the tunnels haven`t been in use for years, there`s a good chance Rasul doesn`t know about them even if he was poking his nose into everything here in Nordby." Pam started walking and I followed her.

I heard her mumbling something and asked her to repeat it.

She turned her head. "Stupid Eric for just rushing out like that. He could have used the tunnels too."

"Or checked if I was really missing," I said in my driest voice.

That had Pam rolling her eyes again and she mumbled something that included Eric`s name and a lot of curse words.

I followed Pam to the eastern part of Nordby – the part closest to the deep forest and also the part with the fewest houses. No one wanted to live close to the forest since that part of the city was darker and colder.

I noticed warriors on the walls and more warriors waiting on the ground but they only glanced at us when we walked by.

"Where is it?" Pam asked the question more to herself than to me.

She pulled back a shrub and kicked a few rotten wooden boards and slid behind a tree. I followed her and saw and old shed. Pam opened the door and smiled.

"Ah, here it is." She pulled me into the shed so quickly I banged my head on the top of the doorframe. I was glad I was wearing my helmet or I would have had a serious bruise.

Pam went down on all fours and threw a few planks away, and underneath I saw a hole. It was dark so I couldn`t see more than the fact that it was a hole and that it was filled with cobwebs.

Great.

"Let`s get down here," Pam said but someone shouting her name stopped her before she jumped into the hole. She got up instead and when her name was yelled again she exited the shed.

I heard her discussing something with someone – it could have been Claude`s voice – but all I heard was "attack." After a little while Pam popped her head into the shed.

"I have to go, Sookie, but I`ll send Claude back to help you when he`s …" She didn`t get to say what Claude had to do because more people were shouting for her and she left me with a nod.

I looked at the hole in the ground and at the door Pam had walked out of and made a quick decision. I could at least check out the hole before Claude came back so I was sure it could be used. And before I could harbor any second thoughts, I made my way into the dark.

The hole was deep and dark and no sane person would go down there alone, especially considering how old it was and how long it was since it had been used. But then I was probably not entirely sane, battle tingling in every pore of my body and worry for Eric leaving me breathless. No, not breathless. It left me with a need to do something.

So I crawled down the hole instead of waiting for someone – anyone – to join me.

The first thing that hit me was the smell. Earth and dust and a stink of rot as if something had crawled into the hole and died there recently. The second thing that hit me was a wooden beam. Or rather, I hit the beam because I was the one moving and it was sitting where it had been put years ago.

"By the tooth of the Fenris wolf," I swore as silently I could. I touched the beam I`d just knocked my head into and pulled my helmet off to let my hand glide over my scull. Then I put my helmet back on and looked into the tunnel. It was dark but I could see several beams in the ceiling. The wooden beams were good news – apart from the small dent in my helmet and the knock to my head – because it meant a safer tunnel than one that hadn`t been secured like that. Less risk of it having caved in at some point.

I`m not a very tall person but even I had to lower my head to be able to walk in the tunnel. And since I didn`t have any light, the tunnel got darker and darker when I got further away from the light from the door. I had to use my hands to make sure I wasn`t walking into anything that would increase the headache the first beam had given me.

This meant that I was moving forward slowly. Very slowly. But I was moving forward and after having walked and crawled, crawled and walked I could smell more than dirt and decay. I could smell the forest. I tried to see if there was any light at the other end of the tunnel but it was dark. I could only smell the forest – I couldn`t see it.

But it was there and I made my way forward, giving my sword a slight touch and sending Freia a prayer. I talked to her about the the feasts she would receive, the animals I would sacrifice in her name if she would stand by me now. Freia listened led me all the way to the end of the tunnel unharmed, though I didn`t realize it at first as the tunnel led into a small natural cave in the darkest part of the forest. One moment I was stumbling and fumbling my way through a dark tunnel and the next I was out of it.

I stayed in the cave for a few moments and listened for sounds of battle or warriors before I exited. I thought for a few moments of Claude who was probably wondering where I`d gone but when I emerged into the middle of the forest I only had one thing on my mind.

I was going to free Eric.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

These past days have been days of celebrations here in Scandinavia. On Friday Norway celebrated her National day. It`s now 199 years since Norway got her constitution (imagine the party we`ll have next year!) and, as always, we celebrated with the Children`s parade where all the children of Oslo went to the royal castle to greet the royal family. Everyone, adult and children, wore their finest, which in Norway means the National dress from your area. It`s truly beautiful.

On Saturday Sweden held the Eurovision Song Contest, which is a huge thing here in Scandinavia – and Denmark won. You should check out the Icelandic and the Norwegian entries. I think those two singers look like Eric Northman and Sookie Stackhouse :-D

Tomorrow is the second day of Pentecost and we have the day off from work. On top of all the celebrations, summer finally arrived. We skipped spring and went straight from winter to summer. The long summer nights are here as well, which is so nice after a long and dark winter. So YAY all around!


	30. Chapter 30

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden – Chapter 30**

**A/N:**

Wow, this baby hit 1000 reviews while I wasn`t looking. Thank you so much!

A lot of hugs to **Suki59** for betaing story after story for me. I`m looking very much forward to seeing her in person. In just a little over a month I can hug Suki59 personally because she`s invited my family and me to stay at her house when we tour the southeastern part of the USA this summer. Did I mention she was a great person and an amazing writer? Now, go read all her 67 stories :-)

Eric, Sookie and all the other in this story characters don`t belong to me, unfortunately. Charlaine Harris owns them. I just sent them back in time and gave them swords.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 30<strong>

The smell of bondfire came through the forest from the opposite direction of Nordby and I knew this must be where Nordby`s enemy – whoever it was – had set up camp. I set out in that direction.

I would have to sneak in very slowly to make sure my chainmail didn`t raise any alarms but I did have the element of surprise on my side. After all, they expected us all to be behind the walls of Nordby.

All of us except reckless Eric, that was.

As if Eric knew I was thinking of him, I heard his deep voice through the trees. It was filled with anger, not pain, and somehow that made me breathe slower. Down on all four, I made my way through the dark forest.

I crawled closer and was suddenly reminded of that time not so long ago – though it seemed like it was in another life – when Eric and I had snuck closer to quite a different camp. How many enemies had I fought this summer? How many had I defeated?

A sadness came over me. What would have happened if I`d stayed at home? If I`d been just another wife with just another husband. I wouldn`t have been a part of Sam`s raids but then my village might never have been raided too. Lives could have been spared and I wouldn`t have given it an extra thought whether it was Sophie-Anne, Felipe or Pam who ruled Nordby.

Sam didn`t owe Nordby any fealty and neither did I.

I closed my eyes for a few moments and shook the thoughts from my head. I wasn`t cut out to be a wife. Not a normal wife, anyway. Someone who stayed at home with her children and minded the weave and the animals. I was a warrior, and a warrior fought battles.

Like I did.

Pam and Eric`s wars hadn`t had to be my wars but I`d become entangled in their lives and thus their enemies were my enemies. It was the way it was – the way the gods had wanted it.

Yes, this summer had changed my life but I`d made my choice when I was a child and had grabbed the sword instead of the weave. As a warrior with honor I now had to fulfill my destiny even if I`d lived on the edge of death a little too often this summer.

I was alive and I was good at what I did. Now I needed to free Eric and get us back to Nordby. There was nothing easy about it but if anyone could do it, I could.

After having talked myself into embracing the life I knew I loved, I took another deep breath and opened my eyes again.

Crawling closer to the camp I heard more voices but two of them stood out. Eric`s and a woman were yelling at each other. It was the word "wife" that made me scramble closer faster than was necessarily safe.

"It`s your choice, Northman," the woman said. Her accent gave her origin away. She was from one of the kingdoms across the ocean. "Either you marry me or we burn down Nordby. I prefer to leave Nordby standing, as it can generate more income if it isn`t destroyed and it will be much easier to generate the acceptance of your people if you are my spouse. But I`ll take Nordby either way. With you by my side or with your head chopped off."

I`d managed to crawl to the top of a small hill overlooking the camp. I noticed guards close to where I was making my way forward but they hadn`t seen me. Just as I lifted a low-hanging branch to see Eric and whoever was speaking to him, the woman ran her hand through his hair.

Eric`s lips were narrowed and he was pulling his head back but his arms were tied behind his back and around a tree so he couldn`t get away from the mocking caress of the woman.

"It would be a shame, though. You`re a handsome man and we would make a fine couple," she continued.

"I`m already married," Eric said loudly enough for me to hear and my anger at him for being so stupid as to leave Nordby to save me without making sure I needed saving left me with my next exhale.

"Your wife is a dead woman either way," the woman stated. "Either you kill her before you marry me or I kill her when I burn down Nordby." She caressed him again and I held my breath.

After a while I realized why I was holding my breath. I was waiting for some kind of declaration from Eric. Something along the lines of _I would rather die than kill Sookie,_ but nothing came. Instead Eric stood there silent, looking away from the woman caressing the hair no one but he should be caressing.

I cursed myself for not bringing my bow and arrow – or Tara who was a much better shot than I was – because I wanted to kill the woman here and now and not later today when I`d figured a way to enter the camp all by myself and kill everyone there.

"Why did you break the marriage contract made with me?" she asked then and if I hadn`t been lying on my stomach, I would have jumped from the shock. Eric had entered a marriage contract with this woman? When? Why?

"I didn`t know about that contract, Freyda," Eric replied, looking deflated.

"That`s Queen Freyda to you, Eric," she said, cutting him off. "It`s not my problem that you didn`t know about it. It was made out when you and I were children. A man with honor would make sure he kept agreements made on his behalf. Especially when he has everything to win by keeping the contract. Do you really want to keep a wife who is nothing but a common shieldmaiden or do you want a queen?"

Again, I waited for Eric to tell her to go to Helheim, but he didn`t. Eric did nothing but stare into the distance. He didn`t acknowledge what she`d just said but he also didn`t say he preferred his shieldmaiden to the queen running her fingers through his hair.

I bit my lip and for a moment I considered going back to Nordby, leaving Eric to whatever fate he might choose for himself. He could marry his queen if he wanted to. I could go back to my old life in my old village. I could even bring Jason, Tara and Claude home with me. What did I care if Nordby was burned to the ground? It wasn`t my town or my country.

But then I looked at Eric again and I knew I had to free him. Not because of whatever warm feeling I had for him because at the moment, my anger was stronger than anything, but because my honor prevented me from leaving Nordby – and Eric – to their destiny.

I stopped staring at Eric and the woman calling herself Queen Freyda and took in the rest of the camp. Only around ten warriors were visible. Most of Queen Freyda`s army was probably busy trying to take Nordby, and I knew there were a handful of guards in the forest.

I considered using the same tactics Eric and I had employed when we`d surprised Victor and his men – killing the warriors one by one – but it hadn`t ended too well for us and I was only one person. I knew I had to use a different method of surprise.

I stared at the bonfire and an idea came to me. The wind was from the west – as it always was in Nordby – and it was blowing fairly hard – as it also tended to do around here. That meant I would have the wind at my back if I moved a little to the south. It had been weeks since there had been any rain and the forest was dry – especially the pine forest I was currently crawling in. I checked my purse and smiled when I felt my firemaker.

I was going to burn the fox out of his hole. Or the queen out of her camp.

Hopefully I would manage to free Eric before the tree he was tied to burned down. And hopefully I wouldn`t die trying.

I crawled to a point where I would have the wind at my back. It wasn`t easy crawling with a full chainmail and helmet – especially not through a pine forest with low hanging branches and plenty of dry pine needles eating their way into my hands and knees. But who cared about a few pine needles when they were on their way to killing a queen?

A guard was sitting between me and the perfect place to set the forest on fire and I knew he had to die. Almost callously – after all, I`d done this before – I crawled up behind him and before he even noticed what was happening, his throat was sliced and I rolled him under a tree so no one would accidentally see him and call alarm.

Then I found the perfect spot to set a fire. A dead tree - definitely a gift from the gods – and a small clearing with birch trees I could pull the bark from, and I quickly had the perfect fuel for a bonfire.

I opened my purse and took out my firestarter. I knew it was noisy but there was no way I could make a fire quietly unless Thor favored me with one of his lightning bolts. Which wouldn`t be very quiet, come to think of it.

But it had to be done and so I set to work, keeping my ears on my surroundings while my eyes were on the bonfire I was trying to start. It took me four tries but finally I had a small glow in the birch bark. I blew carefully and was thrilled to see that the bark was even dryer than I`d hoped. I let a dead pine branch touch the embers and saw how quickly it caught fire. Now I only needed the dead tree to burn – and to make sure it would ignite the living trees too.

As fast as I could, I gathered all the dead leaves and branches I could find and made sure the ground was covered with flammable material. When the wind caught the fire – and didn`t blow it out – I knew I`d been successful. The fire grew quickly – almost too quickly unfortunately because I`d been so busy building the fire so it would reach the camp where Eric was held hostage that I hadn`t made sure I would have a secure way out of the fire.

So when the fire grew high and close to me, I scrambled to my feet and started running towards the camp, turning south just before I would become visible to the warriors there. I needed to be close to Eric the moment the warriors noticed the fire. I wouldn`t have time to both fight a camp full of soldiers and save Eric`s life.

Just when I`d reached the side of the camp behind Eric`s back, the men in the camp noticed the fire. Panic erupted and looking at the fire making its way towards the camp, I could see why.

The fire was massive.

Queen Freyda grabbed her sword and was on her way towards Eric when someone yelled.

"Leave him or you will get fried!"

Queen Freyda shouted something but she was talking in the other direction so I couldn`t make out what she was saying. Not over the roar of the fire, anyway. But apparently surviving the fire became more important to her than marrying Eric, so she ran off with her men.

The coward.

With my sword out of its sheath I ran behind Eric who was now cursing Queen Freyda for leaving him behind. He didn`t even notice me until he was free of the ropes – one quick hit with my sword freed him.

He looked at his hands, bewildered that he could now move them. Then he looked behind him and noticed me. A quick smile ghosted his lips; then he looked at the fire, grabbed my hand and started running with me in tow.

We ran as fast as we possibly could in the thick forest but the fire seemed to advance on us. Eric changed directions and I realized where he was going. The lake. It was a chance to take because, even if the fire couldn`t reach us in the lake, the smoke could. But it might be our only chance so I followed him as best as I could.

When we reached the side of the lake, I quickly pulled off my helmet while Eric grabbed my chainmail and pulled it over my head, throwing it into the shallow water. Then I did the same for him and we swam to the middle of the lake. I was still wearing my sword and it pulled me down but there was no way I was taking off my sword when we were in a battle.

Eric and I stopped swimming and only moved our arms and legs to stay above water. The fire was coming closer and I watched as two deer ran by, barely escaping the flames.

Then a loud scream cut through the forest and a figure with burning hair was visible between the trees. She jumped into the lake and we waited for her to appear again, me with my hand on my sword.

But Queen Freyda never made it to the surface of the lake again. My forest fire had killed her or maybe she`d drowned – I didn`t care. I sighed and was surprised at the emotions running through me.

I was thrilled the Queen was dead. Not just because it could mean the end of the war but on a much more personal level. She would no longer run her hands through Eric`s hair – or demand that he kill me and marry her.

I also felt something else; something that made me look at Eric. I felt anger.

"Your future wife seems to be dead," I said, amazed at how cold my voice was.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**  
>*Bows head in shame* Yeah, I just had to introduce Freyda to this story as well, huh?<p>

I`ve had people ask me about how dark the Scandinavian summer nights are and my answer is always "not dark at all". If you go to my blog (thyra10 dot wordpress dot com) you can see a time-lapse film my husband made at out cabin this weekend. He shot a full night and you can see how it never gets really dark even if we live way to the south to have real midnight sun. The sky is sort of dark blue and with a clear yellowish stripe where the sun set.

BTW: If any of you have any suggestions for places we should see or sights we should stop by in a triangular between Florida, Louisiana and North Carolina then please give me a shout. We know we`re going to be in Orlando, New Orleans and in various parts of North Carolina but we haven`t really planned the rest yet - and we`re going to be there for four weeks. Memphis and Nashville have been mentioned but apart from that we`re pretty much just staring at maps. We enjoy taking things as they come but now that out vacation is just a little over a week away, we figure we probably should plan a little more.


	31. Chapter 31

**Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 31**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for all your recommendations for places to go when we visit the US on Wednesday! I`ve made myself a small book with them and they`re all very useful. Hugs from my husband as well – he`s very impressed with you!

Before you start reading this chapter, I have to warn you. This is the last chapter to this story. I´ve had this in my heart and mind for so long and now it`s over. When I started writing again after my hiatus I knew the story only had a few more chapters left but it`s still a bit sad to write "the end" to it. I´ve come to love Sookie the Shieldmaiden. Ah well, everything has to end some day.

I want to thank **Suki59** for being such a great beta and for pointing out inconsistencies and bad punctuation. This story would not have been posted without her!

Sookie and Eric and all the other characters to this story are a product of **Charlaine Harris**` imagination and are therefor owned by her. I just gave them some weapons and sent them back in time.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 31<strong>

"You`re jealous!" Eric looked thrilled and I wanted to push him under water just to wipe that gloating grin off his face. He must have seen the murder in my eyes because he stepped back a step or two.

The fire was dying down now after a shower of rain had killed most of it. When the gods decided to let it rain on us, I knew they were on our side. Not that I had doubted them but those raindrops were really what we needed now. If they`d come earlier, before I`d set the forest on fire, I wouldn`t have succeeded in my plan. If they`d come later, Eric and I might have suffocated to death.

"Maybe I`m just worried about you killing me in my sleep so you can marry a queen?" I said, my hand clenching my sword. No, I wasn`t about to kill Eric but that didn´t mean I wasn`t angry.

Eric`s grin left his face. "You heard what she said?"

I nodded.

"What was I supposed to say?" He sounded angry now, which was extra fuel for my anger. "I was tied to a tree!"

"You could have said no. It would have been the honorable thing to do!"

If Eric had been Thor, I would definitely have been struck by a bolt of lightning. He was that angry.

"Do you think it would have been honorable to die for you? Die now that …." He stopped abruptly and I wondered what he was about to say. Instead he turned around and started wading towards the shore. He found his chainmail in the shallow water and tried to pull it on. It`s not easy to put on chainmail when you have wet clothes so, after having seen him struggle for a bit, I went over to him and helped him.

Silently he helped me with my chainmail. When we were both dressed, Eric waded over to where Queen Freyda had drowned and ducked underwater, only to come up again with her sword. It was a bit short for him but a short sword was better than no sword.

Then he came back and stood before me in the shallow water. I wasn`t sure if he was going to challenge me to a fight. I had insulted his honor, after all. But I could beat him. I would beat him. I was angry enough to do it.

"There is only one wife I want, Sookie, and that`s you."

"I`m a warrior, not a wife, Eric."

"Good thing, then, that I want a warrior for a wife."

I sighed because his words had gotten to me. Yes, he had been without honor when he dealt with Freyda but he did leave Nordby to save me – or at least that was what he thought he was doing.

"Lucky me to have found such a stupid husband," I said, but I couldn´t help smiling even if I tried not to.

"I happen to think that one would be pretty smart to pick a shieldmaiden for a wife." Eric pulled me into an embrace and I only fought it for a short while. An embarrassingly short while.

"I happen to think so too," I said with my face pressed into his chest. Eric`s chainmail wasn`t exactly made out of silk and flowers so I pulled back before it scratched my cheeks. Something made me look up into Eric`s blue eyes.

It was a strange moment. Two people, cold and wet from the forest lake we were still standing in, wearing heavy chainmail and each carrying a sword – staring into each others` eyes.

Breaking the moment – and adding a new one – Eric bent down and started kissing me. Soon we were kissing like there was no war being fought, no battles to be won.

I pulled back again. "We have to find Rasul and we have to get back to Nordby," I said.

Eric sighed. "I think those warrior wives are overrated after all."

He didn`t say anything else. It`s hard to speak when your face is under water and your wife is holding you down.

We were making our way back through the forest – first the burned down part and then the deep forest that was unharmed by my playing with fire – when we heard voices.

Eric and I had been walking as silently as we could, not exactly sure how big Queen Freyda`s army was. He`d told me what he knew about her before we`d left the lake – and after I`d stopped trying to drown him – but it turned out he didn´t know much. And that he certainly hadn´t had any plans for a quick wedding. Not with her, anyway.

We slid under a large bush and waited to see if the people talking were the rest of Queen Freyda`s army. Staring in the direction of the voices, I tried to sharpen my hearing to see if I could catch what they were saying. The voices got louder and one voice was easier to hear than the others.

"We have to find her!" the person shouted and I looked at Eric while the other people mumbled some response. Had he recognized the voice too?

Eric nodded and I tightened the grip on my sword. Rasul was out there, arguing with someone.

"She is our damned queen!" he shouted. "We need to find her. I`ve worked too hard for this to give up now. She`s alive out there somewhere and she`ll take over the pitiful city of Nordby with our help!"

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Eric stared in the direction of the voices. It was no surprise that Rasul had been Queen Freyda`s man but it gave me a bad feeling to hear him say it out loud. That he`d been stationed as a spy in Nordby for so long, causing problems for both Felipe and Alcide just to make it possible for his queen to take over all the lands.

And she`d wanted to marry Eric after killing all the resistance. I suddenly felt her death had been an easy one, as painful as it had looked. She should have had her arms and legs tied to four horses and had her limbs pulled from her torso – and that would have been an easy death too. In her name, Rasul had caused trouble and mayhem and Eric and I – and our families and friends – had been on the receiving end of her dark and evil plans.

"I`ll kill him," Eric whispered and started moving.

"Wait!" I grabbed his arm. I had a bad feeling about this. Rasul had been so playfully vicious I was afraid there was more behind it. "What if Rasul really is Loke? Can we kill Loke?"

Eric shrugged as if he didn´t care but I could tell my words got to him. We couldn`t kill a god. Not even one who would one day cause Ragnarok.

"We`ll try to take him alive and decide what to do with him afterwards," Eric said, and I nodded.

The voices came closer and we realized there were only three people, Rasul and two men a little older. Not much to get excited about if you were spoiling for battle but they were still three people we needed to beat – and kill two of them.

Using the element of surprise, we came out of our hiding place just as they`d walked by. Without much finesse, we killed the two men walking just behind Rasul. Eric and I slit the throat of one of them each, deciding who should kill whom with a single nod of the head.

Rasul turned around, his sword in his hand. His eyes widened when he recognized us.

"Hello, Rasul," I said and was surprised when he smiled at me. Not a sleazy smile or a cold smile. For a short moment he seemed to be happy to see me. Which was strange and really disturbing. Then the world turned right and Rasul`s eyes were filled with fear. As they should be considering how Eric and I stood next to Rasul`s two dead comrades.

I knocked Rasul down with the hilt of my sword. Just like that, I walked the two steps over to him and knocked him out cold. I wasn`t sorry when I saw blood coming from the wound on his forehead where the hilt of my sword had met his head. I gloated.

The problem with knocking someone out is, of course, that you have to carry them if you want them moved. Eric and I took turns carrying Rasul over our shoulder and I ended up cursing myself for not having left Rasul conscious. What had I been thinking?

I motioned Eric in the direction of the tunnel I`d excited Nordby from and we made our long and hard way back to Nordby, pulling Rasul between us in the darkness underground.

When we finally made it to the end of the tunnel and crawled up into the shed, I took a deep breath of relief. We`d survived. We`d killed the Queen who wanted us – well, me at least – dead. And we`d managed to bring Rasul back with us. Apparently, Eric felt quite victorious too and he seemed to need a physical celebration. He grabbed me and pulled me into his body – chainmail against chainmail – and kissed me like he`d never kissed me before. Deep, intense and with grunts and groans expressing some deep emotions.

He`d just started pulling my chainmail up when a voice called us from outside of the shed.

"Please don´t undress Sookie right now, Eric!" It was Amelia.

How had she known we were there? "How did you know we were here, Amelia?" I shouted back only to see the door of the shed open.

"I always know, Sookie," she said as if I should have known this. And I probably should. Amelia knows things. She looked at the human bundle on the floor. "I see you found Rasul," she continued in a dry voice.

Both Eric and I nodded.

"But you haven´t killed him," she stated.

"No, we weren`t sure …," I trailed off.

"You weren´t sure if he is Loke." She finished my sentence.

Eric and I nodded again.

"Well, there`s only one way to find out," Amelia said. "We`ll send him to the gods. If they want him, they can have him. If they don´t want him, he`ll die."

I liked the last part of her sentence and smiled. "How?"

"You`ll see." Amelia smiled at well.

I´ve always been amazed how much people acted like cowards – or more like headless chickens – when their leader dies. When Pam had discussed the situation with Eric, she quickly sent him out with a group of warriors to kill anyone threatening Nordby, but they hadn`t found many threats. Most of Queen Freyda`s army had disappeared and the war was over before it had begun.

The warrior in me was disappointed. I`d wanted the fight after having waited for it all summer. But I wasn`t feeling well. I`d suppressed it for a long time but now that danger was over, I went to my bed, pulled off my chainmail, crawled under the covers and slept like the dead.

I was later told I´d slept a full day and a full night but when I woke up I was still tired. And nauseous. I only pulled myself out of bed because the first thing I noticed when I woke up was the lack of sounds. There was no one in the house, no one just outside the door and I knew what that would mean. If everyone was gone it was because it was time for us to see if Rasul really was Loke or if he was a devious human being who deserved death.

I knew where it would happen and was more than a little annoyed that no one had woken me up. I`d knocked Rasul down. I`d been his victim. Didn`t I deserve to see his end?

The beach would be where everyone was gathered and when I walked to the top of the last dune, I saw all of Nordby standing there, looking at Amelia, who was talking.

I also found Eric who was standing next to his sister Pam. As I walked towards him, the crowd parted to make way for me. No one said anything but I saw smiles of encouragement. Of gratitude, perhaps?

When I`d made my way to Eric I pulled his arm around me, feeling the need to be close to him at that moment. He pushed me in front of him and locked both arms around my waist, his hand gliding up and down my stomach. Just then Amelia finished talking and people started clapping and shouting.

That was when it hit me like a horse`s kick to the head. Eric had realized something I hadn`t. Or at least I hadn´t realized it until now.

"Eric, I …," I started but was interrupted by Pam.

"Welcome, proud citizens of Nordby!" she shouted to the crowd and people turned quiet and listened to their new queen. "You have made the gods proud and you have fought well. Nordby is a free city, feared by her enemies but loved by anyone wanting to do honest trade." Everyone cheered and Pam smiled. "We want to thank the gods for smiling at us, and what better way than to have them choose our gift to them themselves." It was clear that everyone knew what Pam was talking about and people were laughing and clapping at what Pam had said. "They can choose either to take Loke home or they can take the body of Rasul as our offering to them."

Everyone went wild cheering and clapping.

Amelia, who`d been closest to the water, walked down towards a small boat where Rasul was sitting, tied up in chains. The boat was rocking quietly in the waves and was held by two men from Nordby.

A young boy came over to her with a goat and Amelia pulled the goat with her. The goat wasn`t pleased with being pulled into the water, and made it perfectly clear with its loud bleats, but Amelia managed to pull it all the way to Rasul`s boat. She stopped, looked at the man who may or may not be Loke and when she`d recited prayers to the gods, she cut the goat`s throat and let the blood spray from the goat`s throat to the boat and all over Rasul.

Then someone came forward with an axe and she hacked holes in the sides of the boat. Not large holes, or the boat would have sunk immediately. Amelia was careful with the axe and only made small holes all over the boat.

She turned towards the beach and made signals for four young men to join her. Together they pushed the boat into the seas and the men swam the boat further out. At some point one could see how the current took the boat and pulled it further out while the men swam back to the shore.

Everyone on the beach remained quiet, staring at the boat with Rasul. At first it seemed as if the boat just went farther and farther out but after a long time it was clear that the boat also lay deeper and deeper in the water.

I had to give it to Rasul. Never at any moment did he panic. Not even when his boat was filled with water and it was clear the next wave would turn it over. He just looked back at us and let it happen. The boat sank and so did Rasul.

Apparently he wasn`t Loke after all.

I`d expected cheers when Rasul drowned but everyone stayed quiet. Maybe it was the way Rasul died and maybe it was seeing the grand gift given to the gods, but people seemed awed.

And then they went home. At first it was families with young children. Then the older children. And then everyone turned around and walked back to Nordby.

Rasul`s death would be remembered for generations because he`d died with honor and an honorable death should be respected even if the person dying had caused trouble while alive.

Soon Eric and I were the only people left on the beach. I was still standing with my back to his chest, his arms around me. He`d stopped stroking my stomach and I wasn´t sure if he knew what I knew. If he`d come to realize what I´d only found out when his hand had glided over my stomach.

What if he didn´t know? If his hand had only caressed my stomach because that was what Eric had felt like caressing. What if there hadn´t been any deeper meaning?

"I have to tell you something, Eric," I said and took a deep breath. I wasn`t sure what I dreaded the most – telling Eric or saying it out loud. I knew I`d been ignoring it and if I told Eric I couldn`t pretend anymore.

I turned around.

"Sure," he said and looked at me, his face neutral.

Might was well jump into it, I thought. "Ithinkimpregnant," I said really fast.

"What?" Eric asked.

I looked at him. Was this an "I don`t believe what you`re saying because I really hope you`re not pregnant" or more of an "I didn`t hear you because you spoke too fast?" I wasn`t sure but to be on the safe side, I repeated myself.

"I`m pregnant."

At first Eric just stared at me and I started feeling uncomfortable but then his face cracked into a huge smile. He lifted me up and swung me around. I hated being lifted up and swung around and squirmed to be let down.

"Only ten more then," Eric said, his smile of joy turning into one of mischief. "Unless you`re carrying twins."

"Ten more?" And then I remembered my dream. "I`m not having eleven children, Eric!"

"We`ll see," Eric said in that tone people use when they think someone is being irrational.

"This is not good news, Eric! I can`t be pregnant. I`m a shieldmaiden."

Eric`s smile didn`t falter. "You`ll still be a shieldmaiden. First you`ll be a pregnant shieldmaiden, and then you`ll be a mamma shieldmaiden. We`ll figure it out."

"I`m not staying away from battle."

Eric`s brows drew together. "Of course not. Did I ever tell you I didn`t want you in battle?"

I shook my head.

"You with a sword is the sexiest thing there is. Why would I deny myself that image?"

I couldn`t help laughing. Trust Eric to make my fighting into something for his personal pleasure.

"So you`re fine with this?" I needed the confirmation.

"I`ll be fine with this when it has happened all eleven times." Eric pulled me into his body and laughed even after I kicked his shin.

Then I kissed him.

**The end**

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I hope you liked this trip back in time. I`ve loved writing this story and I hope you`ve had fun reading it!

For those of you reading **Dead among Friends and Neighbors**: I hope to be writing and posting on it while on vacation but there are no guarantees as I`m not sure I`ll have time to write – or if I`ll have internet connections at the ready.

I wish you all a great Summer!


End file.
